Kira
by m3h.com
Summary: Rey has found Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master. How will Kylo Ren and the First Order react? Luke has something important to tell Rey. When will he tell her? Rey and Finn's lives have been flipped upside-down. How will they adjust? Starts where TFA left off.
1. Chapter 1

Rey had just found Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master.

On the outerest outer rim planet, farther than Rey even thought stars could go. That's where she found him.

He was standing there, looking at what seemed to be a grave, but he didn't look upset- then again, Rey couldn't see his face. He was as shrouded in mystery as he was in his Jedi robe.

Rey slowly approached him, trying hard not to make much noise as to not scare the Jedi. But what she didn't know was that he could feel her presence. There was still a lot that she didn't know about the Force, stuff that she secretly hoped Luke would teach her.

Feeling the presence of someone, Luke turned around, on guard of potential danger. Rey reached into her sachel, grabbing the light saber. She held it out for the Jedi to see. For a minute or so, he just looked at her quizzically. Slowly, he sidled his way over to Rey, averting his gaze to the light saber she held out before him. Rey held her breath as she watched Luke Skywalker contemplate whether or not he should take it.

He grasped the light saber, and she let it go, transferring it from her possession over to his. He didn't say anything to her, he just looked at it in wonder, as if to say "how did you find this?".

He walked closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Follow me," he murmured to Rey.

Rey didn't waste any time, following Luke down the same stairs she had just trudged up, wind whipping at some stray hairs that got loose from one of her three buns. She liked the sea breeze, the smell of the salt water, water droplets stinging her face. She liked all of the green, too. It seemed to contrast against the vivid blue water. It was something that she never got to experience on Jakku. The only seas there were never-ending seas of sand. The only green there were dull, faded greens on elder's robes or the veg-meat and polystarch that she had eaten for as long as she could remember. And Teedo. She didn't miss Teedo, or the vegi-meat and polystarch, and _especially_ Unkar Plutt, or Jakku much for that reason. It was a shock to lose her old life so quickly, no denying that, but she was getting used to this new one in her own good time.

She followed Luke into a dark, cold, damp stone hut. One of many. It was quite empty. Only a table, a book, a pencil, and a bowl were what Rey could make out, the room was so dark.

But when she entered, Luke was no where to be seen. He seemed to have vanished out of thin air! She looked around cautiously.

"Hello?" she called out. "You _are_ Luke Skywalker, aren't you, sir?"

Suddenly Rey heard the light saber power on behind her and the room lit up. She whipped around, only to find that the light saber he was holding was a green one, not the blue one she had originally given him. And it was pointing right at her face. She gulped nervously.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" Luke said in a raspy voice, as though he hadn't spoken to anyone in a long time- which he probably hadn't. "And where did you get _this_ ," he questioned, holding out his old blue light saber in his other hand.

"From Maz Kanata," Rey answered quickly.

"From Maz? How in the galaxy would _she_ have gotten it? On Takodana?" Luke replied, still holding the light saber to Rey's face.

Rey paused. _This is going to be a lot of explaining_ , she thought.

"I don't know how she got it," she said.

Luke was quiet for a moment. "And who are you, again?"

"I'm Rey. I've been sent by General Organa, by the Resistance," she answered again. Her answers were short and quick, as though she had rehearsed them.

"Rey? Rey who?" Luke growled.

"I'm just Rey," she rebutted defensively.

"Alright then. General Organa who? What Resistance?" Luke continued with his plethora of questions.

"I was sent by General Leia Organa to find _you_ , Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. General Organa is in charge of the Resistance," Rey replied again. She was getting a little frustrated with this man.

"A general, huh," Luke said, chuckling. "And you, _Just_ _Rey_ , why has she sent you?"

Rey thought for a moment. She didn't know, to be exact. Leia could have sent Poe, who was a trained pilot. Leia could have sent Chewbacca and R2-D2 all by themselves. _She_ could have even gone by herself! But yet she chose to send Rey, for some reason. Maybe it was the fact that Rey had the Force. The light saber, that had belonged to Luke and his father before him, had called to _her_ , Rey, a lowlife scavenger from the barren wasteland that is the planet of Jakku.

"I don't quite know," she admitted. "There's been a lot going on lately and I haven't had a lot of time to process everything."

Luke was still holding the light saber to her face, and Rey could feel the heat wafting off of it. It was making sweat drip down her neck and into the collar of her vest.

"Could you maybe, uh, lower that, please?" she asked quietly, not wanting to anger the already angry-looking Jedi.

"I still need to know why you're here," Luke snapped.

"General Organa needs me to take you back to the Resistance base. She said you were her only hope," Rey said calmly.

"What's so important that she only _now_ needs my help?" Luke questioned. Rey gathered that he needed a _really_ good reason to have to leave this planet.

"It's the First Order. They're getting out of control. General Organa needs your help to stop Kylo Ren and Snoke," Rey explained. She was trying to make the issue sound as problematic as possible if she was going to get this hermit to leave his cave.

"Her 'only hope,' huh?" Luke sighed and lowered his light saber, then turning it off. Rey sighed a sigh of relief. "Well then, she probably wants us back as soon as possible, doesn't she?"

"Yes, sir," Rey replied.

"Well then, let's get to it. Let's go," he said, walking out of his hut. Rey wiped the sweat from her neck and jaw and followed him out. "Lead the way, miss Rey," Luke motioned to some more stairs that wrapped around the mountain and they started down, Rey in front, leading the way to the Millenium Falcon.

"Wait a second," Luke said, holding his hand out, causing Rey to turn around. "How do I know you aren't going to kill me or kidnap me? I don't know anything about you, what am I doing?" Luke threw his hands into the air and started back towards his hut.

"I'm not going to kill you, sir. I don't have any weapons on me, you can check. I gave you the only weapon I had, that blue light saber." Rey spread her arms out, like she was going to be searched. She had forgotten about her blaster that lay in its holster against her leg. But Luke didn't pay attention to it.

"No, no no. I don't need to check you. I can feel that you're telling the truth. Force stuff," Luke replied. "But don't go pulling any funny business," he said, pointing a finger at Rey.

She shook her head and headed down the stairs. She hopped along, frequently peering behind to make sure that Luke was keeping up with her. He was, of course, his cape billowed behind him, making it look as though he was flowing down the stairs, so eloquently. Slowly, the Millenium Falcon came into view.

"The Falcon," Luke gasped.

Just as they were making their way over to the platform of the Millenium Falcon, Chewie came down the ramp, followed by R2, who was beeping frantically, as though he would explode. Chewbacca let out one of his deafening wookiee yelps.

"Artoo!" Luke yelled as he ran over to hug the droid and Chewbacca.

"Chewie," Luke said with a chuckle as the hairy beast wrapped his long arms around Luke, "Chewie, I'm happy to see you too, but if you don't let go, this hello is going to be a goodbye, as well!" Chewbacca released Luke, sounding an apologetic roar. Luke laughed. "That's fine. I'm happy to see you too." Rey laughed at the quirky welcome party.

Luke looked up the ramp of the Falcon. "Is it just you three?" Luke asked Rey. "Where's the pilot? Where's Han Solo?"

Rey looked down. Chewbacca gave a sad growl, and R2-D2 beeped solemnly.

"I think we should get going, sir. There's a lot to talk about and we have a long trip ahead of us," Rey said, leading Luke up the ramp of the Falcon. Chewbacca and R2 followed.

Closing the platform, Chewie looked at Luke as he wandered around the corridors of the Millenium Falcon for the first time in over 10 years. He went over to the Dejarik table, to the cockpit, to the turrets, taking in all the nostalgia. Last time Luke had been on the Falcon, he was with Han, Chewbacca, Leia and Lando.

Rey decided not to tell Luke about Han until he asked. She left him alone to soak in all of the memories and went to start up the Falcon. Like she said, they had a long ride home.


	2. Chapter 2

They had left Ach-To a few hours ago. Luke Skywalker was still exploring the Millenium Falcon, taking it all back in. Rey was in the cockpit, in the pilot seat that used to belong to Han Solo. Chewbacca was sitting beside her in his co-pilot seat, as always. She turned the auto pilot on and leaned back, sighing. She turned to Chewie.

"How are we going to tell him about Han?" Rey asked Chewbacca. "It's going to be quite a blow to him."

Chewbacca growled unknowingly. They weren't sure how Luke Skywalker would take the news of Han's death. It was a shock to everyone who knew Han, that he was killed at the hands of his own son.

Rey recalled the few seconds after he was impaled by Kylo Ren's light saber. He seemed to have gone down without a fight, as though he went willingly. He looked calm. He didn't try to get in any last words, and when he fell, he fell so silently. He didn't flail his arms or legs, he didn't yell. He fell in silence. In a way, he got the last laugh, doing something that no one expected Han Solo to do. He was incredibly predictable yet not predictable at all.

Thinking about that night made Rey tear up. She sniffled and blinked her tears away, holding her strong facade. She swallowed at the lump in her throat, which didn't seem to want to leave. She decided to clear her mind, instead.

"I'm going to talk to Master Luke," she told Chewbacca. He growled back in acceptance.

Rey walked down the hall and into the corridor that led to the maintenance panels, medical bay, crew quarters, and stowaway compartments, passing each one respectively. She thought of all of the accidents and memorable moments that would have taken place in all of them. And she couldn't help but feel bad for Luke, that he'll never see Han again. Atleast Rey got to know and appreciate him (and vice-versa) before he died.

When she found him, he was in the crew quarters, fast asleep. Rey sighed. Now how was she going to clear her mind without talking to someone? Just like how she did on Jakku. She would scavenge.

It wasn't exactly scavenging, but Rey decided to get to know the Millenium Falcon a bit more. She made her way to maintenance panels and opened them up, looking into the deep compartment that was criss-crossed by pipes and wires. The same compartment that she and Finn and BB-8 had to climb into when the Falcon was reclaimed by Chewbacca and Han.

Rey edged her way over to the side of the compartment, looking in, half expecting to see Finn and BB-8 inside, but of course she wouldn't. She sat on the edge and wiggled her foot around, feeling for a sturdy hold. It was difficult without her staff.

Slowly, Rey shimmied down into the maintenance hatch and started to explore the different parts. They were very different from the kind of stuff she was used to on Jakku.

She explored the different parts and mechanics, and every one in a while, dropped a tool. It hit the bottom of the hatch with a loud CLUNK. She winced and quickly climbed up to make sure she didn't wake up the Jedi Master. Rey didn't want to make a bad impression. Luckily, he never woke, and she always continued her explorations.

After a while, she got bored of the circuits and gears. She climbed up and out of the maintenance hatch.

"You were there for a while," she heard a voice say. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she turned around to see Luke Skywalker sitting on the floor, smiling.

"You scared me, sir," she said angrily.

"Sorry," Luke answered.

"So..." He began, "I want to know why Han's not here, and why _you've_ suddenly taken his place."

"He's dead," Rey answered bluntly. She was a little mad at Luke for scaring her. "Killed by Kylo Ren. By his own son."

"What?" Luke questioned.

"You heard me," Rey snapped, "Dead with a hole through his chest."

Luke started to tear up. "How long ago?"

Rey sighed, realizing that she might have sounded rude. "About a week ago, on Starkiller Base. Which no longer exists. He walked out onto the catwalk, he was following Kylo Ren," Rey stopped. Now _she_ was tearing up. So much for wanting to clear her mind. "Han confronted him, and they talked, and Han ended up with Kylo Ren's light saber through his chest." Rey wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

Luke closed his eyes and was quiet. He breathed deeply, as though meditating. Maybe some Jedi training reflex.

"I'm sorry," Rey said quietly, "That you'll never see him again."

Luke sighed. "I'm sorry too. For you. It must have been a great loss." He looked at her understandingly.

"I just seem to be losing everything all at once here, but you are getting it all back." Rey said. "First Jakku, then Han, now Finn."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Who's Finn?"

"It's because of him that I am where I am, and that you're where you are," Rey began. "He was a storm trooper from the First Order. But he defected. He said that he wouldn't kill for them, and then he helped Poe escape, but they crashed on Jakku where he ran into me. We managed to escape the First Order somehow."

"Wait, how did you escape the First Order exactly?" Luke asked.

"We stole a ship that belonged to Unkar Plutt. That ship turned out to be the Millenium Falcon," Rey smiled, pounding her fist on the metal-grated floor. "It hadn't been flown in years."

"The Millenium Falcon was on Jakku?" Luke mused to himself. "I told Han he should have checked the western reaches."

Rey chuckled. She herself wondered how the Falcon wound up in the hands of the grossest being on Jakku.

"Who flew it?" Luke asked.

"I did," Rey replied. "It was sort of difficult, because it hasn't been flown in so long. Unkar made some 'modifications', which only made it harder to fly."

"Sounds like quite an adventure," Luke reminisced. "I used to do stuff like that on Tatooine." He remembered his speeder, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, Old Ben, when he first met Han Solo and Chewbacca. He began to tear up again. He didn't try to stop them this time, letting them flow down his face. Rey looked at him and couldn't help but feel badly.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "Do you want to be alone?"

"Yes, please. Only for a while. I need to think," Luke said. "You can come back later. I would still like to talk to you."

"Yes, sir." She replied as she had been told to when talking to a higher rank, and walked back towards the cockpit. Once she was out of sight and ear-shot, Luke started to pace nervously. Did Rey know who he was? Did she remember what happened?

He pulled out his green light saber and the old blue one. He walked over to the bed he had been sleeping in and set them down beside eachother. He sighed, thinking of Rey.

"My poor girl. I'm sorry."

Luke thought back to the Jedi Academy that he had started. He was training 24 students to be Jedi, at the time. Ben was the oldest, he was 16, and the youngest was 4- a little girl from Tatooine: Rey- who then went by a different name.

Luke remembered the night when Ben- who had then been turned into Kylo Ren- went on a massacre, killing all except Rey.

Luke had felt something that night. He knew something was wrong. And whatever it was, it was close to them. His mind took him back to the Academy. He could feel it, he was there in his room again, R2-D2 by his side.

It was a very stormy night. Luke thought maybe that was the cause of his weird feeling, because he did get cautious during nights like those. But this was a different feeling. He felt like something bad was going to happen. And soon.

R2-D2 beeped curiously.

"Nothing, Artoo. I just feel as though something isn't right."

He headed out of his room, he needed to wake up his students so he could warn them. But what he didn't know was that he was too late.

He was running out when he saw the flames. Then he heard the screams. Oh, the terrible, gut-wrenching screams.

He ran outside to find Kylo and the rest of the Knights of Ren surrounding a group of older trainees. It was pouring rain, not a very good time to be outside. Both groups were surrounded by dead or dying students. One of the students was standing in front of the group. Luke recognized the boy as one of his best students.

"Artoo, get to my ship! Start it up and be ready to leave as soon as I get there. And go quietly! I'm going to see who I can rescue!" Luke quietly ordered the droid. Beeping curtly, R2 turned and headed for Luke's ship.

"Why are you doing this, Ben?!" Laboh, the second oldest only to Ben, yelled. He was the student who stood defensively in front of his peers, light saber in hand but not on. He was a nice looking young man. He had short cut blond hair, and he was missing a finger on his left hand (light saber incident when he was younger). The quirky little boy whom Luke had found in an orphanage on Naboo was growing into a fine Jedi.

"I am no longer Ben Solo. I am Kylo Ren," Kylo Ren boasted.

"Come on Ben, don't do this. We're best friends, remember?" Laboh beckoned.

"We _were_ best friends, but you no longer mean anything to me." Kylo Ren answered.

Laboh studied the new Kylo Ren. He didn't look or sound like his best friend, Ben Solo. This guy was wearing a big mask, and his voice was distorted with a voice synthesizer. Knowing something was about to go down, Laboh turned on his light saber- a green one, like Luke's.

Luke watched from the shadows as the two young men fought it out. He couldn't help but feel proud that he had trained them both so well. The light sabers clashed red on green amongst the orange flickering flames that seemed to surround them.

The fight didn't last very long. Kylo slid his light saber along Laboh's, cutting off his used-to-be-best friend's hands. Laboh shrieked into Kylo Ren's face. Without a single thought, Kylo thrust his light saber through Laboh's neck, severing his head.

The other Jedi trainees gasped. Some even screamed. Kylo Ren diverted his attention to them. With the help of the Knights of Ren, he proceeded to mercilessly kill them all. Luke was in awe of Kylo Ren's light saber. Luke had never seen something like that before. It was red and ragged, and had two extra arcs coming out of the hilt, like a cross guard.

They didn't see Luke luckily. He made a break for the building where the youngest students were housed. He hoped to maybe be able to save some of them. But the sight was horrific.

They, too, had been senselessly slaughtered.

His Jedi training told Luke not to lash out violently, but he was seething with anger. He was livid. These helpless young children, all dead. He knew there was nothing he could do now. He started for the exit.

"Master Luke?" A little voice whispered. Luke whipped around, only to find the youngest of his trainees crawling out from underneath the bodies of her dead friends. It was a provocative sight. Her tunic was covered in blood.

"Kira! Thank goodness you're alive!" Luke gasped. He ran over to her and hugged her tightly.

"What's going on?" The little girl asked worriedly. She began to cry.

"I don't know, child. But we have to get away," Luke replied.

"But how?" The girl questioned. "There are so many of them!"

"I know." Luke thought for a moment. "Kira, do you know where my ship is?"

She nodded.

"Can you run fast?"

She nodded again.

"Okay. So we need to get to my ship. But you need to go fast, alright?"

Kira nodded a third time. Luke grabbed her hand and they headed for the exit together. They saw Kylo Ren standing over the burning bodies of each dead student. Luke gasped and ran faster into the dark, heart pounding. Again, they went unnoticed.

Luke and Kira finally locked eyes on Luke's ship. It was a different model A-Wing, big enough for two people. R2 had it all ready to leave at a moments notice. Luke pulled Kira closer.

"Kira, you run ahead. Artoo Deetoo will let you in," Luke whispered. The little girl obeyed and ran full speed towards the aircraft. She climbed up the ladder easily- climbing came naturally to her. She was always climbing something. Trees, beds, ships, even other students. She climbed into the passengers seat, chatting with R2.

Luke turned around for a moment to make sure they weren't being followed. They needed to make a good getaway, and in order to do that, they needed to be unseen. Fortunately, no Knights of Ren were behind them.

Luke then followed Kira up the ladder, flipping switches as he went. Kira sat back in awe. Oh, how she wanted to fly.

Before she knew it, they were off the ground. She giggled in delight, peering out the window to the ground below. She waved solemnly as they flew away from the mass destruction. The burning bodies, burning buildings, she could even make out the little red lines that was Kylo Ren's light saber. It was moving towards the landing pad that they had just taken off from, followed by a few black-hooded figures.

Luke knew that they had been noticed now. And he knew that they were trackable, so long as they traveled this slowly.

"Artoo, make the jump to light speed. We need to get out of here as soon as possible!" Luke told the droid. He turned to Kira, who was still looking out the window.

"Kira," he said softly. She turned to face him, smiling brightly. She just loved to fly! "I need you to buckle up and sit back. We're about to go really fast and it could be dangerous if you're not sitting properly." He talked so gently to the child.

Kira did as he told her, and buckled up and sat back, looking at Luke as he pushed the throttle forward. Slowly, the stars started to blur and Kira could feel that pushing force, glueing her against her seat. She couldn't help but smile. It was exhilarating!

"Artoo, set a course for the Base. We need to see Leia."

Luke sat back with a sigh. He looked to Kira, who was fast asleep, just like that. She was awake only a second ago. A lot went on that night, only a few minutes ago even. It was all a blur now, like when he blew up the Death Star. The events of the night made Luke tired too. But he couldn't sleep, knowing what had just happened _had_ just happened.

Luke put a hand on Kira's head. He stroked her short brown hair, looking contently at her. He knew what he had to do, but he didn't want to do it.

"Kira Kenobi," he began, "I am sorry."

With that, he used the Force and pushed her into a deep dream-like sleep- how calm she looked, so peaceful- and wiped her memory.


	3. Chapter 3

Luke Skywalker snapped out of his vision with a jolt. To his surprise, he was laying facedown on the floor of the Millenium Falcon. He could hear the thumping of feet running down the corridor behind him. They were getting quieter, so whoever it was was running away from him, not towards him.

He struggled to his feet, a little wobbly. He shuffled over to the bed in the crew quarters where he had set down the two light sabers. He pushed them aside and sat down, sighing. He thought of the vision he had just had. Luke thought of Ben, of Laboh, of Kira- or Rey as she now took to calling herself.

 _At least she's alive_ , Luke thought. Then he heard the foot steps again, followed by Rey and Chewbacca rushing down the corridor.

"Sir! Are you alright?" Rey asked nervously. "You were on the floor for a long time, I was worried you wouldn't wake up!"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Luke replied. But he wasn't fine. This wasn't the first vision he'd had. It was the most recent of many, and they were getting more frequent. He knew it must have had something to do with the Resistance finding the map, and the light saber. But the visions were taking a toll on Luke. He couldn't sleep without having a vision.

"Chewbacca, get some water for Master Luke," Rey ordered the wookiee. He obeyed with a small growl, and went and retrieved some water. He handed it to Luke, who nodded and mumbled in thanks.

"We're almost to D'Qar, sir," Rey began. "Only a few more hours."

Luke smiled at the thought of seeing his twin sister again, but frowned at the fact that Han wouldn't be there beside her like he usually was.

Rey, on the other hand, was excited to get back. She had no idea how Finn was doing, but she was hoping for the best. She knew exactly what she was going to do as soon as they landed: run straight to his room. She wouldn't talk to anyone, even acknowledge anyone. Finn was her number one priority. He was her first real friend, anyways.

"So..." Rey started. "Would you like to keep talking?"

Luke thought for a moment. "Sure, tell me more about yourself. Tell me more about your friend Finn you told me about."

Rey smiled, but her smile quickly faded. She sure hoped he was okay.

"He's in critical condition," she stated. "Well, atleast he was in critical condition when I left. He has a light saber wound straight down his back. Thanks to Kylo Ren."

"How did that happen?" Luke asked.

"It was on Starkiller Base," she began. "He fought against Kylo Ren, with your light saber. I don't remember much, because was knocked out by Kylo Ren. He threw me against a tree."

Luke frowned. "That wasn't very nice," he said.

Rey chuckled. "No, it wasn't. Finn was good with the light saber, but he had no training. Kylo Ren was stronger, and he overpowered Finn. He sliced Finn's back with his light saber."

"How did you two get away?" Luke asked.

"When he nearly killed Finn, he ended up flying the light saber into a snowbank," Rey continued. "It was then that I woke up, and all I could see was Finn on the ground, and Kylo trying to get the light saber. He stuck his hand out- he must have been trying to use the Force. I don't know why he couldn't just walk over and get it. Anyways, I did the same, and it flew into _my_ hand, not his," Rey explained, looking at her hands in wonder. "We fought, and I won. But he wasn't at his full ability. He was wounded. That's probably the only reason we got out alive."

"Finn's very lucky to be alive, with a wound like that," Luke said. "You said he used the light saber. How did he do that?"

Rey thought. "I don't know, he just _did_."

"And you did too?"

"Yes, I did-" Rey started, before they were interrupted by Chewbacca running in. He growled excitedly. Were they back to D'Qar already?

"Thank you, Chewbacca!" Rey exclaimed happily.

Yes, they were! A few hours ahead of schedule, but neither Rey nor Luke minded. They both had priorities. She stood up.

"We're here," Rey said. "Follow me, sir."

She walked down the corridors, followed by Luke, and then Chewbacca. She lowered the platform, and there was Leia, standing there wide eyed, looking for her brother. Even though she needed to see Finn, Rey thought she could wait a minute to see what happened between the two siblings. She held her hand out for Luke to go first.

"After you, sir," she said proudly. Wow, she had just reunited the last surviving Jedi and the general of the Resistance. This was a life's accomplishment on its own!

"Leia," Luke whispered to himself. He was about to run over to his sister, but instead Luke just stood there. He didn't really know what to do. There was a big group of pilots and officers standing around them, and Luke was a little off-put.

"Luke," Leia said back, and she ran over to hug her brother. They were quick to embrace eachother. The crowd "oohed" and "awed", while Chewbacca, Rey, and R2-D2 just stood there looking like three lost puppies.

The embrace lasted for a while. Rey didn't feel the need to stay and look as a bystander, she felt that they needed their privacy. Besides, Rey knew she needed to be somewhere. After getting her bearings straight, remembering where the medical ward was, she booked it down the tarmac in that direction. She could hear the audible little gasps and "Rey's back" from the different pilots, but she payed them no notice. Finn was all she thought.

She burst through the medical ward doors, down to the intensive care unit.

"No running!" A nurse yelled. Rey would have yelled bloody murder back at her, but she instead ignored her. She knew where she was going and was going to get there as fast as she could. Screw the damn nurses!

Finally, Rey came to the room Finn was asigned to. His name was still on the door- his name looked kind of sad, it was all alone- so he was still under the watch of the nurses. But nevertheless, she ran in without knocking. Not that she wanted to be rude, she just wasn't yet accustomed to the Resistance's manner.

She stood in the doorway for a moment, she all-of-a-sudden got really confused. But there he was, sitting up on his bed, and once she saw him, she once again remembered where she was and why. Finn was there, staring at Rey like she was a ghost. Slowly, a smile crept it's way onto both of their faces.

"Rey?" Finn asked in disbelief. He almost didn't recognize her. She looked terrible tired. Her eyes were sunken and she looked somewhat pale. He wondered when she last slept, but he figured she had other things on her mind than sleeping. He slowly made his way out of his bed and started to shuffle over to Rey.

"Finn!" Rey shouted. She wanted to run over and hug him, but she couldn't believe that he could walk! With an injury like that, he was lucky to be alive, let alone be able to walk again.

Rey couldn't hold herself back. She ran over and met him halfway. It was a powerful moment, in a sense. Rey was so happy, she started to laugh uncontrollably. She was laughing and smiling so much that she started to tear up.

Finn could hardly contain himself, as well. Rey hadn't realized it, but this was the first time he had seen her since the confrontation on Starkiller Base, and he was as amazed to see her alive and well as she was to see him.

"I can't believe it," Rey managed to say between laughs.

Finn began to laugh too. He pulled her away to look at her face. He cupped his hands around her neck.

"What's wrong?" He asked, seeing the tears on her face. His face immediately turned into a look of terror. It confused him. If someone is crying, then they're sad. But Rey was laughing too. Was she happily sad? Was she going insane? He _was_ truly worried. "Why are you crying?"

Rey's laughing stopped and her smile vanished. The same look of terror washed over her face aswell. She gingerly reached up and touched her cheek, and yes, it was wet with tears. She looked at her hand in somewhat disgust. "That's new," she ambled. She rubbed her fingers together. "I don't know why I'm crying."

They both shrugged it off. She looked back at Finn, and him at her. Their smiles returned, and they were quick to hug eachother again.

"You're alive!" she exclaimed.

"You're alive too," Finn said. He was smiling more than he ever had in his life, he thought. But his smile quickly faded. "Are you alright? Poe said that you refused medical help after that fight with Kylo Ren. I hear you won, too?!"

Rey smiled less. "Yes, but I only refused medical help because I didn't need it. I was _fine_ ," she explained.

"You got bashed into that tree and fell down almost twenty feet, you weren't alright," Finn demanded. "No one could walk away unscathed from a fall like that. You could have been seriously hurt. You _still_ could be seriously hurt!" Finn shot back from Rey and started to pace the floor. Well, as much as he could with his injury. He just sort of wobbled around in a circle.

But he was noticeably mad. His life had changed so much since he left the First Order. Rey was one of his first real life friends (second only to Poe), and he would be damned if she was going to run around hurt only because she refused help. He really did care a lot about Rey.

"Finn, I promise I was alright," she said, shuffling her way over to Finn and puting a hand on his shoulder. He froze mid pace and looked shyly at her hand. It looked utterly frail, he thought.

"But if it makes you feel better," she began, "it's mandatory that all personnel be checked after each mission, and since I just got back, they'll have to check me over sometime soon." She said with a sly smirk.

He was quiet for a few seconds. "Good," Finn said finally. His smile returned, and he was quick to wrap his arms around Rey again. He had missed her so much, even if she had only been gone for four days, two of which Finn was still unconscious for. Talking to Poe about everything and nothing got kind of boring after a while. Don't get him wrong, Finn loved having Poe as his friend, and talking to him about what was going on in the real world was a new, fun thing for Finn, but talking politics for two straight days would bore _anyone_ who wasn't a politician.

Their hugging lasted for a good solid minute before Finn finally said he had to sit down.

"Oh, sorry," Rey said as she quickly backed away from Finn. "Did I hurt you?" She asked worriedly.

Finn laughed. "No, of course not! I just can't stand for very long." He wobbled his way back over to his bed and sat down with a thump. He looked at Rey, who was still standing in the same spot, looking confused. She yawned. She didn't realize that she was so tired until now, really. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she slept, or ate, or drank.

"You can come sit, if you want," Finn said to Rey, patting the chair that sat beside his bed. Rey smiled acceptingly and meandered over to the big, heavy hospital chair and sat down by his bedside.

"How long ago did you wake up?" Rey asked.

"Two days ago," Finn replied.

"Were you alone?" Rey continued.

Finn through for a moment. "No," he started, "Bee Bee Eight was here as a messenger for Poe. He wanted to know as soon as I woke up that I had woken up. He wanted to be here as soon as possible. So when I woke up, Bee Bee Eight left, and came back a minute later with Poe. _And_ a bunch of nurses," he added.

 _Good_ , Rey thought. "So you weren't alone for long." After all he had gone through, he didn't deserve to wake up and be all alone.

Rey had only just noticed that Finn wasn't hooked up to many monitors. Only one, in fact. She was happily surprised. It was giving off a rhythmic beeping that Finn had grown accustomed to. It had a long wire that went from the machine to Finn's wrist.

"What's that?" Rey asked, pointing at said monitor.

"That's a heart monitor," Finn explained. "It just tells the nurses that my heart is beating, that I'm still alive," he said with a chuckle.

"I'm surprised you're not hooked up to more," Rey said. In a way, she was relieved, because that meant that Finn was improving well and quickly, which meant that he'd be able to leave soon.

Suddenly, everything got quieter. Finn started to say something, but nothing came out. It was as though his voice had suddenly vanished. _Maybe he's just talking quietly_ , Rey thought. She laughed. _Or maybe all of the loud noises of the Millenium Falcon's dulled my hearing_ , she guessed.

"Huh?" She mumbled, but then she realized that she couldn't hear herself, either. _This is strange_ , She thought, and tried again.

" _Huh_?" She said again, but she still couldn't hear herself. She also couldn't hear the beeping of the monitor, or any other ambient sounds anymore. All she heard was a loud, dull ringing that came on suddenly. Finn was saying something but she couldn't hear it.

"Are you alright?" He mouthed. Rey could barely make it out. She managed- or atleast she thought she did- to utter a "Yeah".

But then her vision started to go, too. First, she got double vision, then everything went blurry, and then the lights in Finn's room suddenly became way too bright for her to handle. This combination came and went for a few seconds before they all merged. Something was definitely wrong.

With the little bit of self control that she had left, Rey managed to stand up. Her head was spinning and she got really dizzy, and she stumbled around a little bit before she finally managed to stand straight.

Finn quickly got up after her to try to stop her. She started making her way over to the door, taking a few steps, but her knees buckled from under her, and she started to fall.

Rey couldn't hear herself, but she was trying to yell. Finn _could_ hear her, and her shrieking was horrible. _Unbearable_. He couldn't stand it. He covered his ears sheepishly, and couldn't help thinking of was when he was back on Jakku when they attacked that village. The shrieks coming from his best friend sounded exactly like the shrieks of the villagers.

Rey frantically reached out for something to hold onto, only managing to latch onto the chair she was sitting in, digging her nails into the slippery fabric. Her grip didn't hold, though- on the chair and on reality.

Everything went in slow motion.

Regardless of how fast he was, Finn wasn't quick enough, and Rey blacked out, hitting the floor with a thud. She managed to bring the chair down with her, which landed on her ankle with a crack. She was sprawled out on the floor of Finn's room, out cold.


	4. Chapter 4

Finn was sitting in one of those big chairs in the medical ward, face in his hands. It had been about half an hour since they took Rey after she passed out.

 _This is taking too long_ , Finn thought. Then again, he didn't really know how long it was supposed to take. He knew something was wrong with his best friend, but he didn't know what, and he really wanted to just see her, to make sure that she was alright.

He recalled the past hour in his head over and over. It was all a blur now, but one remaining image was clear. He could see Rey laying on the floor of his room, the chair resting on her definitely sprained ankle.

"Oh, Rey," he whispered, shoving his face even deeper into his palms. How he wished he could have helped. He attempted to move the giant chair that sat on her ankle, but with his injury, he proved to be incapable. In his rushing, he ended up pulling the heart monitor cord off of his arm, which he hadn't told the nurses yet.

But Finn couldn't get that image of Rey out of his head. It plagued him. It was all he saw when ever he closed his eyes. Burned into his brain. Into his eyes.

He heard footsteps, and turned his head in that direction. There was Poe, followed by BB-8, looking frantic and running towards Finn.

"Finn?" He yelled. "What happened?" He looked horrified. BB-8 beeped a series of blips, but Finn couldn't make him out. He didn't speak droid-speak.

Finn looked to Poe, who had managed to scrounge up another chair and was hauling it over beside Finn's. He sat down beside him and looked him in the eye.

"What happened to Rey?" Poe asked gently. BB-8 cocked his head quizzically. Finn sighed and began to explain what went on.

"I- I don't know," Finn began. "She was fine when she came in, we hugged, we talked, and she was fine." But then he remembered her face, her hands- how pale they were, how sunken her eyes were.

"She _acted_ fine. She looked terrible," he added. "Her skin was pale, her eyes," he stopped. "Her eyes- were- were different," he couldn't think of the word.

Poe had an idea of what it may have been, but he didn't want to trouble Finn with more to worry about. Instead, he just patted his friends shoulder.

"She'll be alright, buddy," he assured Finn. But Finn wasn't convinced. He wrung his hands together nervously.

"But what if she's not?" Finn said, daring to ask the question he'd been hoping to avoid. A long silence lasted between the two men and one droid.

"We'll... adjust," Poe said assuringly, breaking the silence.

Finn pushed his head back into his shaking hands. "We just got her back," he said, looking back up at Poe with tears in his eyes. " _I_ just got her back."

"I know man," Poe said knowingly, "I know."

Poe understood where Finn was coming from. He had one the ought he same thing. With Finn. He had been unconscious for 5 days, two of which Rey was gone for, so he had no one to talk about it with. But when Finn finally woke up, he was more than elated. They had a lot of catching up to do, and Poe wasted no time, even if it bored Finn. He didn't care though, he just wanted to get to know the ex-stormtrooper as a human- as a friend- and not as the trained-from-birth killing machine that some of the other pilots and officers saw him as.

Though, Poe didn't feel the need at the moment to start a conversation. Instead, he and Finn just sat there outside Rey's room, impatiently awaiting news of her condition.

* * *

Kyo Ren lay awake in his hospital room, sitting in his unclean, sweat stained, baggy hospital shirt and pants and lamenting over his matted, greasy hair. He was unable to slow his thoughts. It had been plaguing him since he'd done it.

 _I killed my father_ , he kept saying in his head over and over again.

That thought was what kept him awake at night, what caused a chain of events that led to him not being able to look in a mirror without seeing half of his body all bandaged up. He couldn't look at his face without seeing the large wound that was healing into a nice scar. It extended from his cheek up to his brow line, and was very noticeable.

He didn't regret it. Killing Han Solo. He considered it one of the best decisions he'd ever made. As Han fell down into that abyss, Kylo Ren's heart was lifted of this insane weight that was his shattered childhood. The only regret he had about it was the pain it caused his mother. But he would never hurt her. _Could_ never hurt her.

So he thought.

He could feel it every time he closed his eyes. Though his mother never practiced in the ways of the Force, he could feel Leia calling out to him. _Come home, please Ben, come home. I miss you._

Every time, he would say back _I'm sorry mother, I can't_. And it broke her heart. It felt like a blaster bolt to the heart, only it hurt more. Leia never let it show, though. She carried on with her normal, everyday life.

But Kylo was confined to his cell-like room. His only visiter: General Hux. Occasionally, Captain Phasma, and the doctors and nurses who were treating him would show up, but they knew for the most part to steer clear of his room.

Kylo was deep in a trance when General Hux stormed in, his trench coat dramatically swaying to and fro behind him as he walked. Kylo Ren managed a scowl, which Hux gladly returned. Hux stopped at the foot of Kylo's bed. He reached down and grabbed the data pad that was hanging on the base board.

"What do _you_ think your doing?" Kylo growled. He would have lashed out at the General, but he was immobile for the time being.

"Supreme Leader Snoke wants to see you," Hux snarled, not looking up from the data pad. "I'm checking on your condition. He wants to talk to you as soon as possible."

Kylo Ren had been waiting for news from Snoke, and finally, _finally_ , he wanted to meet with him. He would have smiled, but his face hurt too much.

"I'll go now," Kylo began, before he was interrupted by Hux.

"No," Hux started, stabbing the data pad with his finger. "Says here that you're too weak, still." He looked up at Kylo Ren. "Have you so much as gotten out of bed at all in the _past day_?" Hux questioned viciously.

"Why does it matter to you?" Kylo retorted.

"Snoke doesn't want the doctors to have to wheel you in," Hux snapped.

"I'm _fine_ ," Kylo exclaimed. Trying to prove it, he slowly pulled his body up. It hurt to move. Every bone in his body ached and creaked. He groaned as he slowly shifted himself and sat up straight. And ever so slowly, he turned himself until his legs draped over the side of his bed. The blankets fell over his legs and onto the floor, revealing a large, dried patch of blood on the left side of his dressing shirt that had leaked through the bandages. Right where he'd been shot by Chewbacca's bowcaster.

"That's enough," General Hux began, puting his hand out in front of Kylo Ren and impatiently tapping his foot, causing his boots to irritatingly click on the floor. Kylo was ever so annoyed with the General. _How dare he stick his hand out at me._

This time, Kylo _did_ lash out, grabbing Hux's hand and twisting it hard and fast at an odd, unnatural angle. Kylo Ren smiled evily. His fingers popped and cracked, but, surprisingly, Hux didn't crack. A slight wince was all he showed, maintaining his harsh demeanour.

Though unsatisfied, Kylo Ren let go of General Hux's hand and flung his own down onto his bed. With all of his might, he started to push himself off of his bed to a standing position. He grimaced and moaned as he put weight on his weary muscles. The blood rushed from his head, and he almost felt like he was going to be sick. His legs shivered and quivered in agony. He somehow pulled it off, though, and he stood up, straight and tall, before General Hux. But Hux wasn't having it.

" _Sit back down_ , Ren!" He sputtered, his tone dripping with anger. "Enough of this _foolishness_." If you were to walk by, you'd think it was an adult chastising a child.

Though he was not a child, Kylo Ren plunked himself back down into his bed like one, sporting a pouting face. If it weren't for the giant scar carelessly caressing his face, he would have looked like one, too. He sighed long and hard.

"Supreme Leader didn't expect you to be healthy enough _already_ ," Hux continued, scowling. "He may need to talk to you, but in due time. I will not let him be disappointed with your current state, if he were to see you now."

"I'll be fine," Kylo assured, rolling his eyes and frowning.

"You better be," Hux stated. "Snoke is getting impatient. Will you be able to get up and start walking again or must I get you a physical trainer?" He teased with a sly smile.

Kylo Ren didn't reply, instead he gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. He gestured toward the door.

"The exit's over there," he said rudely. Not that he cared. He just wanted Hux gone.

Hux held his face up high and turned the other cheek. He set the data pad back on the base board of Kylo's bed and headed towards the exit, heels clicking and trench coat billowing.

"They found Luke Skywalker," Hux added as he made his way through the doorway, not bothering to turn around to look at Kylo Ren's wide-eyed, astonished expression.

* * *

"Finn, wake up," Finn heard a voice say. It sounded far off. "Finn!"

Finn shot up from his short sleep to find Poe standing at the foot of his hospital bed.

"What is it?" Finn asked hurriedly. "Is she awake?" He asked, referring to Rey, who was still unconscious, for all he knew.

"No, no she's not," Poe began. "But they finally know what's wrong with her, and they're letting people in to see her."

Finn sighed, half in relief, half in disappointment. He would have been still sitting in that chair outside of her room, but the nurses made him return to his own room because he was still recovering. Finn made Poe promise that he would come and wake him up as soon as she got news of Rey.

"Let's go, right now," Finn demanded. He started to get out of bed.

"Wait a minute," Poe said, gently pushing Finn back down on his bed. "She's still unconscious, are you sure you want to see her?"

The look on Finn's face was indescribable. It was a mix of disgust and complete and utter rage. He grabbed Poe's arm and squeezed it tight. He looked so menacing that it looked like he was staring into the pilot's soul.

"Are you really going to ask that question, _sky pilot_?" He growled. "I've been waiting for her to get back for a while, and she finally did, but now she's gone again. I'm going to see her _now_!"

Poe sheepishly pulled away from Finn, nodding his head, a little scared. "Yeah, of course. Let's go," he said quickly and nervously, not wanting to make Finn even angrier.

Finn pulled himself out of his bed, groaning slightly. He blinked the sleep away from his eyes and glanced at the clock that sat at his bedside. It was early, but he didn't care one bit. He knew there would be time for much-needed sleep later.

Using Poe's arm for support, Finn shuffled his way down the hall, avoiding the eyes of the nurses. _Rey_ was all he thought. He went through every possible scenario in his head. Would she be asleep for days? Would she somehow be awake when they walked in? Would she turn out brain dead? Unable to walk? Talk? Breath on her own?

Finn knew that he was going to the extremes. He knew that Rey wouldn't be brain dead, or unable walk and talk, but he was nervous. His brain went to every scenario it felt like, regardless of what Finn wanted to think.

He was so focused on her that he almost passed her door. He even missed BB-8 waiting patiently by the chair Finn was sitting in. He turned and beeped at Finn.

Finn shot around, startled out of the depths of his own thoughts by the robot. Poe looked at him piteously.

"You alright?" He asked Finn.

Finn sighed and looked at the floor. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Poe smiled warmly, putting a hand on Finn's shoulder. "She'll be fine," be began. "I promise."

Finn looked up at Poe. He smiled disheartenedly.

"Do you want me to go first?" Poe asked.

"No," Finn started. "No, I'll be fine. U-unless you want go first," he said.

"After you." Poe said. "You've been waiting for her for a while, and I don't think anyone's been looking forward to seeing her more than you!" He finished with a laugh.

Finn nervously chuckled back. Slowly, he shuffled towards the medical ward door, and he pushed it open.

The lights were blindingly bright inside. A nurse quickly flitted around a bed, where a comatose Rey lay silently, her eyes glued shut. There were tubes going every which way, some attached to her wrists, a feeding tube threaded through her nose, and one taped to her chest underneath the medical gown that she was wearing. A few monitors quietly beeped in sync beside her bed. Some colour had returned to her skin, but she was still quite pale, her eyes were still sunken, yet she looked so peaceful. Her ankle was wrapped in bandages. Her chest heaved up and down, letting out deep, shallow breaths.

Finn was overcome with emotions, and he fell to his knees beside her bed. He put his hands on the side of her bed and layed his head on them, tears welling in his eyes. He examined her state, up to her sunken, pallor face, her feeding tube, down to the IV on her wrist, down to the bandages on her ankle.

"She's going to be ok," the nurse stated from across the room.

Finn nodded, took a deep breath and asked the nurse a question he'd been waiting to get answers to.

"What happened to her?" He asked, wiping his eyes with his hands. Did he really want the answer?

Yes, he did.

"A combination of dehydration, starvation and exhaustion caused her to go into shock," the nurse stated practically but calmly. She looked empathetically at Finn, who was wiping his eyes of new tears that were forming. "She also has a sprained ankle, just like you said," she confirmed.

"I'll leave you alone," Poe said from the doorway. Finn had forgotten hat Poe was there, and didn't mind him leaving. He wanted to be with Rey for the to being. Quietly, not wanting to make a big fuss, Poe left the room, followed by BB-8 at his feet.

"The dramatic change of climate might have also had something to do with it," the nurse added. "To be taken off of Jakku so suddenly and to be put in extreme conditions with different life forms, diseases, plants, weather, time zones- and not be properly adjusted or introduced- those alone could be enough to make her sick."

"But combined with the exhaustion, starvation and dehydration?" Finn asked, voice shaking. He knew starvation and dehydration were bad on their own, but combined with exhaustion and being shunted from Jakku so suddenly couldn't have been healthy- mentally or physically.

"All of those factors, plus the adrenaline, all combined?" The nurse began. "Those would cause the body to go into shock."

Finn whimpered a little bit, a tear making its way down his cheek. He felt so bad. This might not have happened if she had just been checked over when they got back from Starkiller Base. But instead, stubborn as she was, Rey refused help. Finn pounded his fist on his knee angrily. The nurse tried to calm him down.

"Your friend is going to be fine," she assured him. But Finn was undeterred.

"I could have stopped this," he stated. But really, he couldn't have. He was unconscious when they returned to the base after the ordeal with Kylo Ren, and remained unconscious until she was gone, out of the care if the Resistance. There wasn't anything he could have done about it.

"This wasn't your fault," the nurse soothed. "Actually, your quick thinking might have saved her."

"'Quick thinking'?" Finn questioned, looking over at the nurse.

"Yes," she began with a smile. "When she collapsed, your first instinct was to call for help. There were doctors and nurses there in seconds, right?"

Finn nodded.

"Well," she continued. "Without the immediate medical attention she received, her body might have started to shut down."

Finn closed his eyes. He didn't want to think about that.

"Imagine if she had been alone," the nurse stated. "She might not have been found for hours. It was a good thing she was with you, and a good thing you have fast thinking."

The nurse made Finn feel a little better, but he was still processing all of this. He was just happy that she was okay, that she would be alright.

The nurse headed towards the door. "I'll leave you two alone," she said, and left the room.

Finn took in the set up of the room. Her bed was stationed in the middle, with the few machines on either side. A bedside table sat opposite the side to Finn. It was the same size as Finn's room, just set up differently.

Rey's room was very quiet, aside from the beeping of the machines and Rey's steady yet shallow breathing. Finn found it soothing. He was used to the beeping of machines, and was used to falling asleep to their emotionless tones. He found a chair and pulled it over to her bedside, and leaned back, making himself comfortable.

It was then that he decided that he wouldn't leave until she woke up.


	5. Chapter 5

Luke and Leia were in Leia's office. They shared their affectionate hello, and now they had a lot to catch up on. They sat alone in Leia's small office, chatting quietly.

"I know about Han," Luke started. "I'm so sorry, Leia." Luke said sincerely, reaching out and putting a hand on his sister's. Leia sighed.

"So am I," Leia said. "Han deserved better," she started, tearing up.

"It's alright, Leia," Luke comforted.

"I know," she began, sniffling. "I got over Han along time ago, when he first left. He's been gone for me for a while."

Leia got quiet all of a sudden.

"But it's not Han I'm sorry for anymore," she stated. "It's Ben I'm worried about." She whispered, incase someone might have been listening.

"Yes, I know," Luke said. "Rey told me that _he_ did it."

"Someone needs to stop him, Luke," Leia pleaded. "Someone needs to stop _Snoke_."

Luke nodded solemnly. "I never thought Snoke would get so powerful."

"Well," Leia began. "We _both_ thought wrong on that." She cleared her throat subtly. "Let's change the subject."

"Yes," Luke mumbled. "What shall we talk about?"

Leia leaned in closer to her brother. She looked him straight in the eye, suspicion written all over her face.

"Who is Rey?" She asked. "Is she who I think she is?"

"That depends on who you think she is." Luke said.

"She's that girl you brought to the base on Endor, isn't she?" Leia questioned. "The day after Ben- Uh, the day you left."

Luke turned away from his sister's penetrating glare. He fixed his eyes on a root growing out of the wall of her office. He tried to avoid the question, but Leia was determined.

"Luke," she asked again, gentler this time. "She's Kira Kenobi, isn't she?"

Luke nodded silently, eyes now cast upon the floor. Just then, an officer burst into Leia's office.

"Excuse me ma'am," the officer began, standing at attention.

"At ease," Leia commanded calmly. The officer stood easily now, quickly handing Leia a piece of paper before leaving as quick as she'd appeared.

Luke watched Leia as she read the message, her facial expressions telling him all he needed to know. Something was wrong.

"What is it?" Luke asked, looking worried.

"It's Rey," Leia started. She looked up to meet her brother's stare. "She collapsed."

* * *

General Hux came in every day to see Kylo Ren. Not in an affectionate way. Their arguments were those of two children fighting over their favourite toy, and they had the same one every day.

"Have you gotten out of bed today?" General Hux would ask.

"Yes, like I told you yesterday, I can now get out of bed and walk down the hall," Kylo Ren would answer back, sneering.

"So no improvement from yesterday?" Hux snickered.

"Why do you come so early? It's two in the morning!" Kylo began. "Do you think I've had time to get up and see how far I can walk today...?!" He questioned, snarling.

"I'm just relaying what Supreme Leader asked me to!" Hux answered, "Don't give me your _attitude_! Here I have to come, _everyday_ , to your hospital room to check up on you, when really you should be able to get up, by yourself, without motivation from myself or Snoke!" Hux hissed, loud and frightening enough that even the storm troopers walking out in the hallway, froze in fear.

"Maybe if you didn't treat me like a _child_ I would have been to Snoke already," Kylo Ren stated blatantly.

"I'll stop treating me like a child when you stop acting like one!" Hux retorted. An awkward silence feel upon the two of them. Kylo breathed heavily and angrily. General Hux swiftly reached down to where Kylo Ren's health chart sat hooked on the base board of his bed. He picked up and nonchalantly tossed it into Kylo Ren's lap.

" _Idiot_ ," Hux snapped. "Why must I do everything for you?" He asked, walking out of Kylo Ren's room, clearly itrritated. "Remember to stretch! Snoke doesn't want you injured because of your own stupidity, _again_!" He added once more, poking his head through the doorway before finally leaving for good.

Kylo Ren sighed deeply in annoyance. He didn't have anything to lash out on, but that was probably a good thing. He reached down and picked up the data pad, looking at it hesitantly. He read it over, and over. Nothing was written there that he didn't already know, himself. Hux made him so mad, how secretive he was about everything. Kylo Ren ripped the piece of paper from the chart and crumpled it into a right ball, proceeding to biff it at the wall.

Kylo Ren lay in his bed, thinking. Should he get up and work on his walking, or should he go back to sleep and get his much needed rest, considering how early it was?

He chose the former.

Slowly, but quicker than the previous time, he pushed himself over to the side of his bed, turning his body until his feet sat flat on the floor. Slowly but surely, he steadily stood up, his head no longer pounding from a head rush. That had dissipated a few days ago.

Kylo Ren sighed, looking down at his bare chest and baggy hospital garb- aside from the bandages that were wrapped around his abdomen. He reached over to the chair beside his bed where a black t-shirt lay, slowly and gently slipping it over his head. Feeling concealed enough, he headed out of his room, cautiously putting one foot in front of the other.

He stood in the doorway of his room, looking menacingly out into the hallway at the storm troopers and doctors who marched by. Some quickened their pace, eager to get away from the person that they had gotten to know as the easily-angered Kylo Ren. He had gotten used to the stares of the doctors and nurses and troopers, because for most of them, it was their first time seeing Kylo Ren without the infamous mask.

He made the decision to turn right this time, away from the nurses station and towards the hospital exit. He followed the flow of the storm troopers, but came to the realization that the hall only branched off into other halls, all identical. Sighing, he contemplated whether or not he should go back to his room or continue ambling through the maze of halls.

He chose to further gain some stamina, and continued his venture through the hallways. He looked in every room that he passed, given that the door was open. He was trying to clear his head if Han Solo. Again. If only Hux hadn't woken him up. For the first time in a long time, he was finally asleep without his plaguing thoughts and dreams, whom Han Solo was usually featured in.

But it was still conquering his thoughts, overruling the empowering anger that had embedded its self inside Kylo Ren's head.

 _I killed my father. I killed Han Solo_. He couldn't get it out of his head.

This dark, clouded mess of thoughts got the better of him. Kylo Ren turned around at the end of the vast hall and returned to his room, winding through the many halls that he hadn't realized he'd walked down. He finally got to his room, satisfied with his walk and his progression, but not with his mind- with his prior actions.

He plopped down on his bed, which much to his surprise, had been remade, and there were new clothes sitting on the chair. Was he gone for that long? He checked the clock. It was now three in the morning. He had been gone for almost an hour. Leaning back on his freshly-made bed, he closed his eyes and forced all thoughts of his father out of his head, and went to sleep again.

* * *

Finn still sat in that same chair, stationed beside Rey's bed. She still hadn't woken up. Really, it had only been a few hours, but to Finn, it felt longer. It felt like days. Weeks. Months, even.

Rey still breathed heavily. The machines still beeped rhythmically. Finn still stared at her like she was the last person in the galaxy, longing for her to wake up. He had no idea what time it was, for Rey's room contained no clock. He only got an idea of the hour when a nurse walked in, a different one from last night.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully, carrying a tray of food and setting it down on the table that sat next to Finn.

"Oh, uh, she can't eat," Finn said, looking at Rey sadly.

"Oh, it's not for her," the nurse stated. "It's for you. Commander Dameron requested it," she said.

Finn was delighted at Poe's kindness. No one had ever cared that much about him, but he knew not to take advantage of it. Finn looked over at the food on the plate. He didn't know what at was, but it looked good.

He kept an eye on the nurse, following her actions as she walked over to the far wall that was covered by a thick curtain that Finn hadn't really noticed before. She drew it back, flooding the room with sunlight and revealing a large window.

As Finn's eyes adjusted, he looked out the window. He hadn't known it before, but this part of the medical ward was dug out of a cliff, and Rey's room had an excellent view of the rolling fields and vast forests that sat in awe of its own beauty below. He looked in amazement, as he knew Rey would love the view.

The nurse ambled around Rey's machines, looking at the monitors and writing stuff on her clipboard. Finn cocked his head and cleared his throat.

"How is she?" He asked.

"She's progressing fine," the nurse said. "Her heart rate is normal, her fluid intake is being increased, and her body is reacting fine to the medication she's on. At this rate, she should wake up at any time."

Finn's tense body relaxed a bit. He couldn't wait for the moment that Rey wakes up.

Finishing up her notes, the nurse left the room. Finn looked at Rey, and then to his breakfast, which was only getting cold so long as it sat on the table, untouched. He began to eat, finding that the food both looked good and tasted good. He didn't realize how hungry he was though, devouring his food in record time, and was again sitting in his own thoughts and uncomfortable silence. But instead of focusing on the inevitable, he decided to do his regular exercise regiment.

Finn slowly got up from his chair and, finding a spair sheet, layed it out on the floor in front of the gigantic window. Taking in the breathtaking view, he sat on the sheet, stretching out his wary muscles as he'd been instructed to do every morning, afternoon and night- the day before being an exception.

As he exercised, Finn thought of Poe. How kind he was, how thoughtful he was, how caring he was. He was like an overprotecting older brother, but in a good way. Finn never had anyone who cared about him until Poe came along, and it was refreshing- to know that there was someone who cared about whether or not you ate your meal, you got your sleep, had proper clothes to wear, or if you died in battle.

After finishing his exercise regime, Finn proceeded to sit on the sheet, soaking up the morning sun. He liked the feeling of the sun on his bare face, not covered by a mask or helmet. He was so immersed in the sunlight that he didn't notice Poe and BB-8 come in.

Out of the corner of his eye, Finn saw the droid come to a halt beside his sheet. He looked over to see Poe standing beside his sidekick, smiling down at Finn.

"Oh," Finn began. "Hey, Poe." He said quietly. Poe looked at where his friend was sitting on the floor. He chuckled.

"Having a picnic?" Poe asked. Finn looked at him, confused.

"What's a picnic?" Finn replied, answering Poe's question with another question.

"Never mind," Poe said, shaking his head. "Mind if I sit?"

Finn smiled, patting an empty spot on the sheet beside him. "Go ahead!" He shuffled over to make more room for the pilot. Poe sat down, sighing.

"How is she?" Poe asked, nodding towards Rey, who still lay asleep in the bed. Finn sighed, looking out the window.

"She still hasn't woken up, but the nurse said she's progressing fine," he answered. Poe nodded affirmingly. He followed Finn's gaze and looked out the window. "Great view," Poe stated.

"Yeah," Finn began, "Rey's gonna love it."

As he said her name, Finn turned to look at her. From that angle, sitting on the floor, he couldn't see her very well, but he caught a glimpse of her hand, which was twitching. Either voluntarily or involuntarily, her fingers were moving. You'd have to be staring at her hand in order to notice, which Finn was. He craned his neck to get a better look, but to no avail. He stood up, causing Poe to look at him suspuciously.

"What?" Poe asked curiously. "What's wrong?"

Finn barely acknowledged Poe. He mumbled something incoherently.

"Is it Rey?" Poe continued to ask.

Finn didn't answer. He studied Rey's hand, as it began to move more. He averted his gaze up to her face, only to find that her eyes were wide open, staring blankly off into space. Slowly, Rey turned her head until her and Finn made eye contact. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but could barely say anything.

"Finn," she managed to croak. She continued to open and close her mouth like a fish out of water, trying to speak. Finn was quick to get by her side. Poe shot up and quickly joined Finn at Rey's bedside too, closely followed by BB-8.

"Rey," Finn said back. He scurried over to his chair and sat down, taking Rey's hand in his. "You're alright," he assured her.

Rey couldn't see or hear very well. Though Finn and Poe had been sitting only a few feet away, she hadn't heard them at all, and now, even with Finn sitting right at her side, she could only hear a dull whisper. And even now, she could barely see Finn, even though he as sitting right next to her. It worried her. It terrified her. She had no idea where she was, what was going on, or what had happened to her. She clenched her free hand and pounded it on the bed in anger.

"Hey, hey," Finn tried to soothe her, reaching over and grabbing her other hand. "Poe, go get a nurse," Finn instructed. Poe wasted no time, flying out of the room and down the hall in two seconds.

Rey continued to try to speak, but her mouth was too dry. She could only whisper. Again, she whispered Finn's name.

"Yes?" Finn answered in a quiet tone. He looked at Rey, who was looking at him with large, wondrous eyes.

"I-" she began. "I can't see very well," she whispered.

"That's alright," Finn assured her. "That's normal."

"I'm thirsty," she gasped. She was used to being in short supply of water, and knew how to ration it properly, but she was parched. She was terribly tired, even though she'd been asleep for so long. Her heavy eyelids sagged and drooped.

"Yeah, I can get you some water," Finn said, getting up and going out into the hall to get her a glass of water. Though he only took a few seconds, Rey was fast asleep by the time he got back. Finn sighed. All he wanted to do was to spend some time with her, but with her current condition, she proved unpredictable. But that was nothing new.


	6. Chapter 6

Kylo Ren was now well enough to be moved from his hospital room to his normal suite. Though he still had his side bandaged, he was instructed to change the dressings- which he seldom did.

Today was a special day for Kylo- he was finally getting to meet with Supreme Leader Snoke again. He was dressed the best he's ever been dressed. He wore new black boots, new black leather gloves, crisp black pants with a nice shiny belt, and a dark grey overcoat layered by a large black shawl. Aside from his helmet, he was complete.

He sat, waiting for General Hux, in his room. Hux was to tell Kylo when Snoke was ready, as to not intrude or walk in at the wrong time. He sat there, staring at the tarnished helmet of the man and grandfather he so admired: Darth Vader.

"Grandfather," Kylo Ren started. "I am still searching."

Nothing.

"I can still feel it. Mother, uncle Luke, the girl- the Light side beckons me. I feel it when I close me eyes. I feel it when I look at myself in the mirror."

Nothing.

"But I finally did it. I got rid of Han Solo. Are you proud of me?"

Still no answer.

"Mother always said you'd be proud of me. But I still need your guidance. I will not fall. I will not become victim to the Light side. I will not bow down to letting my loved ones suffer as I stand by, watching. I will now bow down to disorder, to tyranny. Snoke says that embracing the Dark side yields great power- but I have yet to feel it."

Kylo Ren was growing angry. Not with Darth Vader for not answering his beckon call, but at himself for finally admitting what was troubling him. It took a lot of courage to finally talk to someone- or in this case, something- about what was going on in his head, and he expected to feel much better for it- but he instead still felt incomplete. The call to the Light was still looming over him. He pounded his left side, letting the pain flow through him. He breathed easier again.

"Help me, grandfather. Let your power influence me, and I promise to fulfill your legacy."

Kylo Ren finished his rant, feeling accomplished, but still empty. He did not feel enlightened, influenced. He couldn't feel the Dark side flowing through him. He needed someone to talk with, someone who would actually answer and give him advice, instead of blankly staring through him, like the decrepit mask did. That's why he had Snoke. To influence him. To arouse the Dark side of the Force.

Kylo Ren sit alone in his suite, embracing the lonely silence. He liked silence. He let it surround him, blocking everything else out. He focused on his thoughts, on his meeting with Snoke. What he wanted to talk about, what Snoke wanted to talk about.

"Good morning, Supreme Leader," he said aloud, practicing his greeting.

"You look well Supreme Leader," he tried. He shook his head, huffing.

 _That doesn't work,_ he thought.

"Supreme Leader," he paused, thinking of something witty to say. But humour wasn't his forte.

 _Han Solo was always good at jokes_ , he heard a voice inside his head say. It startled Kylo Ren. This voice was one that he'd never heard before. He gasped, eyes wide and heart racing.

"Stop," he hissed to the voice inside his head. And the voice ceased. He sighed, puting his face to his hands.

 _What was that?_ He thought. Who _was that?_

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. The person tried to open it, but it was locked. Kylo Ren had locked it to avoid unessesary intrusions.

"Ren," General Hux called from behind the locked door. "Open this door."

Not getting up from his chair, Kylo waved his hand at the door, using his Force abilities to his advantage. He turned in his chair to face Hux as he walked in. Hux stood there, hands folded in front of him, looking as though he was on official First Order business- which, in a way, he was. He raised his head and began to speak.

"Supreme Leader Snoke would like to see you now," he announced.

Kylo Ren smiled and nodded. "Thank you," he said, standing up and heading towards the door. "Let's go."

Hux nodded and followed Kylo out the door, the two of them looking menacing as they walked down the halls and corridors, dressed in black and glaring at anyone who looked at them the wrong way.

* * *

Luke Skywalker lay on his make-shift bed on the floor of Leia's room, tossing and turning. He was having one of his dreams again.

He was back in his A-Wing, four-year-old Kira Kenobi laying asleep in the seat beside him. He pulled the ship from light speed, the Rebel base on Endor coming into view.

"Commander Skywalker, requesting permission to land," Luke transmitted to the base. He waited for a reply.

"Commander Skywalker, permission granted," the person on the other end said back. "Welcome back, Luke."

Luke smiled. "Thanks. Tell Leia to meet me on the runway," he commanded.

"Yes sir," the person said, signing off.

Luke sighed. The sun was just rising on Endor, the trees casting long, eerie shadows across the tarmac. He only then realized that it was the next day. How could he have forgotten? He always remembered his students' birthdays.

It was Kira's fifth birthday.

Coming in low, Luke saw Leia as she walked out to meet him. He landed, and lifting Kira into his arms, hopped out of his ship. R2-D2 beeped a greeting to Leia, who was looking at Luke in suspicion. She raised an eyebrow.

"Who's the girl?" She asked, lowering her voice.

"We need to talk, Leia," Luke said, motioning for her to follow him to her office. They hurried down the hallways quietly, trying not to draw attention. It would have looked sketchy to see a grow man carrying an unknown girl in his arms. They got to Leia's office and locked the door.

"Luke, what's going on?" Leia asked worriedly. "Who's this?" She asked, pointing at Kira, who Luke was laying in a chair by the wall.

"It's Ben," Luke answered, staring at Kira as she lay asleep in the chair.

"What about Ben?" Leia said quizzically.

"I'm sorry Leia," Luke began. "He did it."

Leia looked at him, scared for what she was about to ask. "Did _what_?"

Luke's face screwed up in anguish. "He killed them. All of them. All of my students." He put his face in his hands. Leia's eyes widened in disbelief.

"No, not Ben. He's a good boy," Leia told herself. She was in denial. Her Ben couldn't do something that evil. Could he?

"I'm sorry Leia," Luke said again. "I don't know what happened to him."

" _Snoke_ ," Leia said quietly under her breath.

"What?" Luke said, looking up at her.

"It was Snoke," she repeated, louder so Luke could hear her but quiet enough that no one else would. "Ben was always drawn to Snoke." She looked to the floor. "I never thought it would amount to anything, though."

"No, no one did," Luke assured his sister. "No one ever expected something like this."

They grew quiet. Kira started to stir. Her head tossed and turned, but her eyes didn't open. Leia looked at Luke again, then pointed to Kira.

"What about her?" She asked.

"The only survivor," Luke said, smiling sadly.

"What's her name?" Leia asked, getting up and walking over to her. Luke stuck his hand in front of his sister.

"Leave her," Luke demanded. "Her memory's been wiped." He instead got up, walking over to Kira and, holding a hand over her head, pushed her back into a deep sleep. He sighed in relief.

"She's Kira Kenobi."

Leia's eyes widened once again. " _Kenobi_? As in _Obi-Wan_ Kenobi?"

"Yes," Luke started. "His granddaughter."

* * *

Luke was sucked from his dream by a thud. He sat up, bleary eyed, to see his sister, once again, walking through her office.

"Sorry," Leia said.

Luke shook his head and smiled. "No, it's fine. I can't sleep anyways."

"We can get you stuff for that, you know," Leia suggested, shrugging.

Luke shook his head again. "It's not like that."

Leia nodded knowingly.

"So how's, uh, Rey?" Luke asked.

"She's woken up and gone back to sleep," Leia said.

"Do they know what's wrong with her?" He asked again.

"Finn does," Leia answered. "You want info, you should talk to him." She finished with a sly smile.

Luke stood up and headed towards the door. "Where would I find him?"

"Probably in Rey's room," Leia said. "Dark skinned, short hair, probably limping, just so you know."

"Thanks," Luke said, heading out the door and down the hall. He had no idea how big the base was, how far it extended underground, and _definitely_ where he was going. He stopped in the middle of the hall and just stood there, looking lost and confused- which he was.

Luke was just minding his own business when a pilot, wearing the traditional flight suit that Luke was farmiliar with, nearly knocked him over.

"Oomf!" Luke groaned. The pilot turned around, looking horrified.

"I'm so sorry sir," he boasted. Coming up behind him was an orange and white BB unit- one of a kind.

BB-8.

The pilot who'd ran into Luke was Poe Dameron. Poe stared at Luke, star struck.

"Oh, God, you're- you're-"

"Yes, I am," Luke finished for him, chuckling. He took a step back and extended his arms in a sort of bowing gesture. "Luke Skywalker. In the flesh."

Poe was astonished that he was in the presence of one of the greatest pilots ever- and that he had nearly plowed him over. He was incredibly embarrassed. His face was flushed pink.

"Commander Poe Dameron, at your service," Poe said, bowing awkwardly. "I'm so sorry, sir," he appologized, stepping away nervously. "Is there any way I can make it up to you?"

Luke was flattered by Poe's kindness, and a little intimidated that he was seen as such an important figure. Luke thought over Poe's offer.

"Well, since you're offering, Poe," Luke began, "I need to know how to get to the medical ward."

"Yes, sir," Poe replied, "follow me sir."

Poe lead Luke down some halls, then down some stairs, then down some more halls. BB-8 came up the rear, making sure Poe didn't lose Luke, or vice-versa. Finally, they arrived at a set of large doors with the words MEDICAL WARD written across them.

"Here we are sir," Poe said, opening the door and extending his hand graciously for Luke. "Do you know where you're going from here?"

"No," Luke answered. "I don't suppose you know where a girl Rey is, do you?" He asked, not knowing whether or not Poe would know, but figuring it was worth asking. Poe smiled.

"I do, actually! Follow me again," Poe instructed as they walked once again down the hall.

"I knew your parents," Luke stated, filling the awkward silence, trying to start a conversation.

" _My_ parents?" Poe asked suspuciously. He hadn't seen his parents in years- and didn't want to think about them.

"Yes," Luke answered. "Kes Dameron, Shara Bey?"

"Mhmm," Poe mumbled. He couldn't ignore the lump in his throat that was growing. He didn't want to continue with this conversation. Luckily, Rey's room was just ahead. He came to a halt outside her room.

"Here we are, sir," Poe said, standing outside a door that had a name tag with the name "Rey" written on it, just like Finn's room had.

Luke smiled thankfully. "Thank you, Poe Dameron."

Poe saluted Luke just like he did any other higher rank. Luke was once again flattered by Poe. He blushed.

"Please," he put his hand out in protest. "I haven't been saluted in years, and don't plan on starting again anytime soon."

Poe shrugged. _Alright then,_ he thought. _What ever floats your boat._ He nodded to Luke before making his way back down the hall towards the exit, followed by BB-8.

Anxiously, Luke pushed the door open, only to be temporarily blinded by the bright lights, as Finn had been. Quickly regaining his eyesight, he walked in, taking in the breathtaking sight of the gigantic window that everyone seemed to be astonished by. It _really_ was a beautiful view. He looked around to find a man- Finn, but he didn't know that then- sitting in a chair beside Rey's bed, where she lay still attached to her many machines, sleeping. Finn had his back turned to Luke and hadn't seen him walk in.

"Are- are you Finn?" Luke Skywalker asked him. _Dark skin, short hair,_ looked like the description Leia had given him.

Finn nearly fell out of his seat, for he was so startled when Luke spoke up. Groggily, Finn turned to face Luke. His eyes widened upon seeing who was standing in the room.

"Are- are you Luke Skywalker?" Finn asked nervously. Luke smiled.

"Yes, I am."

Delighted, Finn stood up and limped his way over to Luke, where they properly greeter one another, shaking hands.

"I'm Finn," he answered. Luke smiled.

"Rey's told me quite a bit about you. She was so happy to finally get back to see you," Luke said before he remembered why he was there, in Rey's hospital room.

"How _is_ Rey?" Luke asked. Finn shuffled back to his chair.

"The nurses said it was a combination of extreme dehydration, starvation, and exhaustion. And a sprained ankle."

Luke cast his gaze to the floor, he couldn't help but feel guilty. _This is probably my fault,_ he thought. And, partially, it was.

But, partially, it wasn't. Rey was so used to not having food or water to spare on Jakku and had so much on her mind lately that she'd forgotten to eat or drink. She was used to her stomach growling, her mouth being try. Even then, though, she eventually got something to eat. She was new to the concept that people around here could drink or eat at will, without having to risk an arm and a leg for it. And having the worrying thought of finding Luke Skywalker on her mind placed her under even more pressure. Even so recent as her last night on Jakku, she found herself unable to sleep. She'd had problems with getting to sleep all the time, but her last night was different.

"You can sit with her if you want," Finn suggested, smiling. "I haven't left since last night, but I could use a bathroom break."

Luke nodded. "Alright, if you insist."

With that, Finn picked himself up from his chair and journeyed out to find a washroom. Taking his place, Luke sat at Rey's bedside. How happy he was to finally see her again, but deterred that it had to be like this.

"What happened to you?" He asked, though not expecting a reply. He sighed, looking all of the machines that she was hooked up to. Atleast she'd been taken off a few since she woke up.

 _Why Jakku?_ Luke asked himself. _Why Unkar Plutt? Why a scavenger? Why has this happened?_

Luke had chosen that path for her when he chose to place her on Jakku. He knew how self-sufficient she was, how she could put up a fight- and win. She was resilient and tough- yet how did she end up like this?

Attached to machines?

Unable to eat or drink on her own when she'd been so used to fending for herself? And being so good at it? Even with her modest supplies and tools on Jakku, she had managed to carve a life out for herself. A rough, starving life, but albeit a good one. It was the only life she knew, all of her memories existed out of Jakku.

Luke wanted to tell her right away who she really was, where she was from, who her family is- was. But he couldn't. Not now, at least.

Luke wanted to do something good for Rey. He knew the Force could heal in small ways. His limited training only allowed him to be able to heal small injuries, which was something he was good at. He had to be, because he had no doctor or medical care on Ahch-To.

Feeling confidant, Luke slid the chair down to the foot of Rey's bed, where her sprained ankle rest stacked up on a few pillows. He rubbed his hands together nervously before hovering them over the bandages that were bound around her foot. Channeling the energy to his fingers, he lay them against the thick bandages. Sharp and clear inside his head, he saw an image of bone fusing to bone. He sighed in relief. He hoped that his Force-mending would help.

Suddenly, Luke saw something out of the corner of his eye. He looked up at Rey, who was starting to stir again. He watched as her head tossed and turned but her eyes didn't open.

 _I can't face her,_ Luke thought. _Not now._

Knowing he had to act fast, maybe some of those Jedi reflexes, Luke was quick to jump out of his chair and scurry out of Rey's room, nearly knocking into Finn, mirroring how Poe had knocked into him.

"So quick to leave?" Finn asked curiously. Luke turned to Finn and opened his mouth as if to say something, but quickly closed it, turning around and racing down the hall, vanishing from sight.

 **This is the first time I've addressed my readers personally. I hope you like the story so far! Please, feel free to** **review and critique. Tell me if it's going to fast (I don't think that, though) or too slow. I want this to appeal as much to you as it does to me! Thank you!**

 **~MEH~**


	7. Chapter 7

Rey was asleep. Half medically induced, but asleep.

The medication gave her weird dreams. New dreams, unlike like the ones she had on Jakku. It wasn't the usual dream of her parents- or at least who she thought and grew to know as her parents. She dreamt of a cloaked figure. Cloaked in mystery. Standing solemnly along a cliff side, looking longingly at the magnificent view they'd grown accustomed to.

Rey, herself, was there too, but then again, she wasn't. From where she was standing, she was on Jakku, yet had this clear view of the green planet where the person stood. It was as though both planets had been sliced in half and stuck together, with Rey on the Jakku side and the mysterious hooded figure on the other.

She tried to walk over to the person, but her feet wouldn't move. She looked down, startled to see her left foot engulfed in sand up to her ankle- the same ankle that she sprained. Surprisingly, she didn't struggle to dig it out. She was mesmerized by the hooded figure.

She could hear someone talking, too. But she wasn't able to deduce whether it was someone in her dream or someone in the real world. She had always been a light sleeper- a survival mechanism she'd developed on Jakku.

 _What happened to you?_ She heard someone say. The voice was farmiliar, yet she couldn't place it. It was a man's voice.

 _Why Jakku? Why Unkar Plutt?_

What did this person know about her?

 _Why a scavenger?_

Was this person mocking her?

She was good with tones- vocal changes in someone's voice. That was also something she'd picked up on Jakku. This person wasn't mocking her, but was asking a legitimate question. They sounded sad.

 _Why has this happened?_

Their tone sounded like they actually cared, but they might have just been pretending. But something was different. Rey could feel something subconsciously.

She could feel how they felt. She could feel their _sadness_.

Her dream was confusing her. She could no longer tell whether what she was hearing was part of her dream or of the real world. She didn't know what to think anymore, and her head knew that too. It was telling her to wake up. _Wake up, Rey, wake up_.

Her head got clearer. She began to hear those mind-numbing beeping monitors again. She opened her eyes to the blinding white lights, only catching a fuzzy glimpse of someone rushing out of her room. She blinked, trying to focus her eyes as she saw Finn come back into her room.

"Finn," she said hoarsely.

"Yeah, I'm here," he answered, smiling, coming to a halt beside her bed, glad to see her awake again.

"Who was that?" She asked, weakly pointing towards the door.

"Luke Skywalker," Finn said.

Rey sighed. "How long was he here?" She asked again.

"Not very long," Finn started. "He sat down for a minute while I went to the bathroom, but when I came back, he was leaving," Finn said, shrugging.

Rey huffed slowly. She closed her eyes tiredly. This was only the second time she had woken up, and she still had a very limited knowledge of what was going on with her and around her.

For the first time since waking up, Rey took a look around. She saw Finn, kneeling beside her bed. She looked to the machines, to the large window- which she could not see out of, unfortunately. She looked down to the foot of her bed, where she could see the chair that Luke was sitting in, and the thick bandages weighing her foot down, pushed out from underneath the thin blanket loosely draped over her. She couldn't feel any pain in her ankle, but that might have just been medication talking. She looked up to her hands, where on her right wrist, an IV stuck in her skin. It was something she didn't recognize. She looked at it confusingly.

"What's this?" She asked, holding up her wrist curiously.

Finn didn't really want to tell her, for he was unsure of how she would react. He contemplated telling her what happened. All of this stuff is probably so new to her.

"It's an, uh, I- IV," Finn told her, stuttering nervously.

"What's an IV for?" She questioned again.

"It's for when someone is sick and they need fluids," Finn said. "For when they can't take them theirselves."

Rey knew what that meant. She hung her head low.

"Oh," she mumbled. "So I'm sick?"

Finn nodded his head slowly. "You're very sick, but it's easily fixed," he finished with an assuring smile.

Rey nodded. She didn't know what to think of her prognosis. It worried her, that she was so sick, because she'd never been really sick before. She'd gotten a cold or the flu on Jakku before, but that she could treat herself. Right now, she was really sick, and how she was treated was out of her control- something she was not used to.

Reaching up to scratch her cheek, Rey was met with something sticky- the sticky tape that held the feeding tube in place. She felt along the tube, following it to her nose and back behind her ear where it mingled into a mess of other cords that went to the different machines.

"And what's _this_?" She asked, voice cracking a bit. All of these machines and cords were new and overwhelming to her.

"It's a feeding tube," Finn began. "Because you couldn't feed yourself. _Wouldn't_ , apparently," he said, his tone tinged slightly with anger.

Rey knew what Finn was getting at. He was mad at her for not eating when she should have. She hung her head in shame again. All of this was too overwhelming for her. Being stuck in a hospital bed, attatched to machines and cords, unable to eat or drink on her own (for the time being), and having Finn mad at her. She started to tear up.

"Oh, Rey," Finn said, his voice shaky. "Why couldn't you have just taken care of yourself?" Rey looked up to meet Finn's eyes. He stared back into her glassy eyes. He looked at her with a look not of anger, but of somewhat sadness and regret. Rey closed her eyes, spilling over with tears. She looked down to her hands.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm just so confused."

Rey didn't like to cry in front of people. She wasn't used to showing emotion. But, for some reason, she didn't seem to mind it this time. Maybe it was because she didn't really realize what she was doing, maybe it was because of Finn. Rey was surprised to see Finn's hand reach over and take up hers. She looked up at him. He looked at her warmly, his look of sadness and regret had vanished and his words free of angry undertones.

"It's alright, just don't do it again."

* * *

Kylo Ren and General Hux came to a halt outside of a set of large, magnificent black doors. There was no sign around, but the both knew where they were. They were the only two people on the ship who knew how to get there, and what was inside.

Supreme Leader Snoke's chambers.

Kylo Ren breathed deeply in excitement. Finally, this moment had come. He looked to his right where Hux stood. Hux turned to look at Kylo aswell, whom to his surprise, was smiling.

"Shall we?" Kylo Ren asked. Hux smiled back and nodded, and together, they pushed the doors open, only to be met with a wall of cold air and pitch black darkness. The light from the hallway cast long, mysterious shadows of Hux and Kylo's silhouettes across the floor.

They continued to walk forward, the doors closing behind them with a loud bang that echoed throughout the chamber. Slowly, dull torches lit up around them. Starting from the opposite end of the chamber, they began to illuminate these giant pillars and pedestals that held artifacts from around the galaxy.

The last torches to ignite were at the very end of the gigantic chamber. Slowly, Hux and Kylo saw the outline of a large throne come to view. In that throne sat a thin, scarred, tall figure, wrapped in a cloak. No hologram this time. The real thing.

Snoke.

Kylo and Hux stepped forward onto a pedestal, where they each bowed onto one knee formally, as they would when in the actual presence of such an important being. Slowly, they rose to face Snoke.

Kylo Ren could barely stand still. His legs were shaking and he was swaying slightly, but he managed to contain himself. He had been waiting for so long and was so exhilarated to finally see Snoke. He was struggling to even keep a straight face!

"Kylo Ren," Snoke bellowed. He began to rise, struggling to stand up fully, revealing his full height. Kylo Ren hadn't seen him in so long, it was weird for him to see him not 30 feet tall. In reality, he was only 8 foot, which is still very tall compared to the two average sized humans.

"You look well, Supreme Leader," Kylo replied, face burning nervously.

"As do you," Snoke said, motioning towards Kylo Ren by extending one of his grotesque, boney hands. "You are recovering well."

"Yes, Supreme Leader." Kylo answered.

General Hux stood tall next to Kylo, waiting for his praise too. As the conversation continued between Snoke and Kylo, Hux grew impatient. He coughed and cleared his throat awkwardly, but to no avail.

 _Is this what I get?_ He asked himself. _I watched over Kylo Ren for you, and brought him to you. What do I get?_

"Thank you General," Snoke said, "I would like to talk with Ren for a moment," dismissing the General with a wave of his hand.

General Hux held his head high and veered on his heels.

 _Nothing, apparently,_ he said vainly in his head. He stormed off, boots clicking rhythmically in normal Hux-like fashion.

Snoke watched cautiously to wait specifically until Hux was gone. As the doors closed boomingly, he sat down on his throne, looking at Kylo Ren, eyes drilling into his head.

"Ren," Snoke said quietly.

"Yes?"

"I assume you have heard about Skywalker?" He asked.

"Yes," Kylo Ren answered, drawing out the "s" angrily. He gritted his teeth as he spoke. "He is now in Resistance custody."

"Our chances of getting to him directly- unnoticed- are slim."

Kylo nodded.

"So the Resistance must be destroyed," Snoke ambled.

Kylo Ren stiffened. He blinked, dumbfounded. Destroy the Resistance?

Destroying the Resistance _did_ come with its benefits. He could get rid of everything his father left behind, and with that, most memories of his childhood, too. He could get rid of their arch-enemies in one fell swoop. He could get rid of the traitor, FN-2187. He could get rid of Luke Skywalker.

But it also came with its downside. The Millenium Falcon, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, all _happy_ memories. His mother- the only person who he still cared for- all gone.

And then there was the girl. She was a whole different story.

He felt something, as soon as he found her in that forest. Though at that time he wasn't so sure, the interrogation confirmed what he thought, and it triggered something that he hadn't felt in a long time. Something he didn't want to talk about. Think about. He knew who she was. He remembered her.

Kira.

Did she remember him?

How did she end up where she did?

He had so many questions- which he was determined to get answers to. She couldn't be killed. Not at the moment. She could be useful, later on.

"No," Kylo Ren said unknowingly loud.

"What did you say?" Supreme Leader Snoke questioned bitterly. Enraged that someone had contradicted him, Snoke stood up to strike Kylo Ren. Realizing that he had said it out loud, Kylo tried to reestablish himself.

"I- I mean, not yet," he stuttered defensively. "We..." He paused, thinking of something not-dumb to say. "We need to wait until the right time."

Snoke thought about it, going quiet for a moment. Finally, he asked Kylo Ren what he thought.

"And what do you suppose we do?" He bellowed.

"Espionage," Kylo Ren suggested. It was the only thing he could think of that didn't involve killing people- yet.

Snoke got quiet again, thinking.

"Mhm," he said, nodding. "Yes. Send in a spy, learn their ways, and when the time comes, execute everything they've come to," he finished, sitting down with a demonic, echoing laugh.

Kylo Ren smiled vaguely, anxiously. He really did not like the thought of destroying the Resistance. He didn't want to destroy the Reistance. He had unfinished business. Unanswered questions. He knew there would be questions he never knew he wanted the answer to, or _needed_ an answer to.


	8. Chapter 8

"When your ID number is called, step forward!" General Hux cried, pacing back and forth in front of massive rows and rows of storm troopers. It felt good to finally be in charge of something for the first time in a while.

Captain Phasma stood next to Hux, examining her soldiers proudly as they stood uniform in the large, white-washed, echoing drill hall. Only the best of their divisions had been chosen. Though none of them had any idea what all of this was for, they had all done well. They had all gone through rigorous tests and challenges, and had been narrowed down many times- and now, after even _more_ tests, they would narrow it down even further.

Their Resistance spy was to be chosen today, and they were going to do this thoroughly and properly.

Captain Phasma stepped forward, holding a clipboard. One by one, she called out their numbers.

"RB-0101."

A trooper stepped forward.

"AC-1567."

Another one.

"ME-1124."

And another.

"And FN-2191."

The last trooper stepped forward. This was it, the last four candidates.

"Those of you who's number was not called, you are dismissed," General Hux announced. In sync, the twenty-or so-other storm troopers turned and marched off, leaving the four others looking desolate.

"Congratulations, you four," Captain Phasma addressed the remaining soldiers. "You've made it to the final test."

"But it will not be an easy one," Hux added. "Please, come with us."

Hux and Phasma escorted the four troopers to a small, private room. Just like the drill hall, this office was white-washed, but also housed four chairs sat ceremoniously in a row.

"Please, sit," Hux said, now in a more calm tone. Just like he said, the four of them sat down.

"You may remove your helmets," Captain Phasma instructed. Apprehensively, the troopers removed their helmets- they weren't usually allowed to under normal circumstances. They looked at eachother curiously.

"RB-0101," Phasma said. The trooper stood. He was a young man with pale skin and light, sandy hair that stuck out a little bit from the plastic hood worn underneath their helmets.

"Captain," he replied, monotone.

"AC-1567," Phasma once again called out. AC-1567 stood up. A young woman with tan skin- who looked to be wearing armour that was too big for her- was to become the face of this storm trooper.

"Captain," she replied as well.

"ME-1124."

Once again, a third trooper rose. This woman looked a bit older than the rest, but no less fierce. If anything, she looked more vicious than the others- which was only one reason to be afraid of her. This woman topped all previous records when it came to combat, so everyone knew to steer clear of her.

"Captain," she barked, so loud and sharp that the scidish RB-0101 jumped. Yup, she _was_ ruthless.

"And FN-2191," Phasma finished. Finally, the last trooper stood up. A tall young man with pale skin but dark hair stood up straight and tall.

"Captain," he replied.

Phasma nodded. One of these storm troopers were going to carry out one of the most important missions in First Order history- and now, her and Hux had to figure out which one.

"Good," Hux began. "Now that you're all present, you will learn what your last test is. But first, you must get to know eachother."

"This part of the test consists of nothing too difficult," Phasma started. "General Hux and I will leave this room. You four must stay. We will lock the door behind us, and you must get to know each other."

The four troopers nodded incoherently. _This doesn't seem too hard,_ they thought.

"For how long?" AC-1567 spoke up.

"For an hour," Hux answered.

"What's the point of it?" Asked ME-1124.

Hux sighed. "Well, I suppose you should know what this has been leading up to." He stood up tall and professional, looking around cautiously, as if someone might be listening.

"One of you will be sent to the Resistance as a spy," he explained, lowering his voice. The four storm troopers squirmed uneasily at hearing the name _Resistance_.

"These tests have been designed for us to find one of you who will most properly do the job."

They nodded.

"But this is a top secret mission," Hux stated, more serious this time, putting lots of emphasis on "top secret". "If you breathe a word of this to anyone, you will be executed for treason," Hux threatened, his voice getting involuntarily louder. "Is that understood?!"

"Yes, General," they responded in chorus.

"Good," Phasma said. "Since you all understand, phase one of your test will now begin."

She and Hux headed out of the room. Without a word, they closed the door, locking it behind them.

Surprised and unknowing, the four remaining troopers looked at eachother, confused.

"Is this really it?" FN-2191 asked. "Seems easy to me."

"Well if it's so easy, then let's get started," ME-1124 demanded. Knowing not to get on her bad side, they all started chatting. This first phase seemed easy, because it was. But this was only the first phase. There were more to come.

* * *

The hour passed by uneventfully. When Hux and Phasma returned, they were delighted to find their four storm troopers chatting gleefully and getting to know one another.

The storm troopers were dismissed for the night. They went back to their respective quarters, but not without being one again threatened by General Hux. _You will be executed._

Hux and Phasma remained in the room, discussing the days to come.

"Phase one is complete," Phasma announced.

"Good," Hux replied, smiling pleasingly. "Now for phase two."

Phase two was a bit different. Their four candidates would have no idea what was happening. Phase two was about surveillance. Their four storm troopers would be monitored for a few days; this was to prove their trustworthiness. If they could make it through without breaking the news of their mission, then they would pass.

But the consequences for blowing it were yet to be decided, but it would definitely result in death.

So the first day went by normally. It was actually very boring for Hux, since he was the one who had to stare blankly at security monitors for hours on end. But all four subjects went through the first day perfectly.

The second day was the same, with only a few bumps along the way. Captain Phasma had watch that time, and she was positive that ME-1124 said something to another trooper in her division, but the audio was (quite conveniently) scrambled at that moment, so nothing could be done about it.

The third day was when things started to go downhill. It was Hux's turn again, and this time, he caught ME-1124 chatting with one of her fellow troopers.

She was in her quarters with the same suspect from the day before: ME-1234. They were both alone, and supposedly safe.

"What were you gone for yesterday?" ME-1234 asked.

"I shouldn't tell you this," ME-1124 began, lowering her voice. "There's a secret mission."

ME-1234 smiled like a teenager talking gossip. "Really? Why are you involved?"

ME-1124 smirked, covering her mouth as she whispered something to her comrade.

Too much said.

 _Execute_.

One less candidate.

 _Execute_.

One day closer to the end of the Resistance.

 _Execute_.

Hux's blood boiled. His face turned a bright red. Grabbing his blaster from its holster, he booked it out of the security room, not paying the other candidates any mind.

He shot down the corridors, running through corps of storm troopers and groups of officers.

 _Execute, execute, execute,_ was the only thing going through his head. He must have looked like an insane asylum escapee, running ramped through the halls with the largest scowl ever tearing across his face.

He came to ME division's female quarters. Kicking down the door, he winded his way through the rows and rows of beds, bloodshot eyes darting back and forth like a lion seeking its prey.

Then he saw them. His eyes locked onto them, knowing he would be the last person to see these two alive. But that bothered him not one bit.

"Traitor," he whispered under his breath through gritted teeth.

Holding up his blaster without a second thought, he pulled the trigger twice- shooting both ME-1124 and ME-1234, sending an array of armour, flesh and blood onto the opposing wall.

Slowly, cautiously, he snuck around to where they were both sitting- now laying on the floor, a pool of blood increasing in size around them. If they weren't both dead, they would be soon.

ME-1124 stared up at Hux with what little power she had left. Her sharp blue eyes shone vividly against her ever-paler getting skin. She opened her mouth to say something, only to get a blaster bolt to the head. Hux yelped as blood splattered across the room in all directions.

Growling, he removed his trench coat- which was now soaked, and let it fall into the pool of blood that grew to engulf his feet aswell. He walked out of the pool of blood, and rushed over to the intercom panel, leaving bloody footprints in his midst.

"Send a sanitation crew to this area," Hux ordered to whoever was on the other end.

"Right away, sir," they replied.

Hux sat in the room for a moment, shaken by what he'd done. He looked at the splayed, bloody, congealed bodies of ME-1124 and ME-1234. No, he'd get over it soon enough.

 _Phasma's not going to be happy,_ he thought. Though she might be upset, Hux was not. In his eyes, he stopped somethings that could have turned into a catastrophe. He was the real hero!

The sanitation crew came and cleaned up the mess, surprisingly not too stunned by the bloody crime scene- it was just a part of the job.

Before they left, Hux stopped them. He berated them, making it a point for them to "never mention this to anyone. Or else."

* * *

One of Rey's favourite things was to wake up before the sun and sit in front of the large window, watching it rise as it casts warm, orange light across the gorgeous valley.

As she improved, she was removed from the many machines. Though her condition was on the fence, everyone knew she would be fine. She was improving markedly every day.

By now, she could get up and walk around. Since she was a little unstable on her left foot (because it was so weak), she used her staff mostly for support, which gave her a reason to hold on to it.

Finn and Poe came in to visit her every day. Occasionally, Leia would too. But never Luke, not since he fled the last time. But Rey was alright with that, because Finn and Poe always came bearing giant smiles and fun stories to tell, which always brightened up her day.

One morning, while she sat in front of the magnificent window to watch, in awe, the sun rise, Finn came in earlier than usual.

"Hey, Rey," he ambled, smiling as usual.

She turned and smiled back. "Finn!" She exclaimed. She was always so happy to see him! "Where's Poe?" She asked.

Finn sighed, a little downhearted.

"He's on a recon mission, right now," Finn explained. "The General's on the lookout for a new base."

Rey raised an eyebrow. "A new base? Why?"

"The First Order knows we're here," he said. "They know where we are."

"Oh," Rey sighed. "So when will he be back?" She asked.

"They just left," Finn said. Excitedly, he pointed out the window as a half dozen X-Wings flew into the sky. "See? There they go!"

Rey chuckled and waved, even though she knew they wouldn't see her. Again, she sat back and stared out the window longingly. Slowly, the sun started to rise over the horizon. Finn took a spot on the floor beside her.

Rey sighed. "I want to go outside," she said quietly and sadly. Finn looked at her in pity.

"Haven't you been outside yet? Even I have!" He said happily, trying to raise her spirits.

"No," she began. "Before I left to find Luke Skywalker, I spent all of my time with you."

Finn blushed. She spent all of her time with him? She could have gone out to get a sense of the land, of the Millenium Falcon, but instead she chose to stay inside, in the cold, underground base, as Finn lay comatose in his bed. A completely selfless act.

But that was Rey. She had a heart, even if she didn't always show it.

Finn thought for a moment.

"Would you like to go outside with me?" He asked shyly. Rey turned to Finn, beaming from ear to ear.

"Can we?!" She basically yelled, before jumping up and grabbing her staff, skipping (avoiding putting weight on her ankle) out of her medical ward room. Finn laughed, quickly getting up to go chase after her.

"Wait up!" He called, but she was already down the hall. Finn had to run as fast as he could to catch up with her, finally meeting her at the exit, where she had to stop and wait for Finn.

For an injured girl, she sure can run fast. For the moment, her ankle didn't bother her. Her pure excitement canceled out all pain.

* * *

Phase two went by quickly. The other three candidates made it through with flying colours. But now came phase three.

The final phase.

General Hux and Captain Phasma sat in the small, whitewashed room again, waiting for RB-0101, AC-1567, and FN-2191 to show up. As they sat, they discussed the full mission.

"We'll send the spy to D'Qar via an escape pod," Hux explained. "Their story will be that they escaped the First Order."

Phasma nodded. "They'll take pity, like they did with FN-2187."

As they chatted, their remaining troopers showed up. Like usual, they sat in their chairs- one less than before. They removed their helmets and started talking to eachother as they awaited news of the final phase. The last test was going well- they were growing close to each other.

Hux had been looking forward to the final phase the most. This would prove how they would react to having to kill someone that they were close to.

Yes- for the final phase, they had to kill one another.

If everything went according to plan, only one candidate would remain victorious. This would be their spy.

Hux stood to address the storm troopers.

"Congratulations on making it this far," he began. "You've all done exceptionally well, and have made the First Order proud."

The three of them smiled and nodded delightfully, looking at eachother happily and proudly.

"What a shame that only one of you will leave this room alive."

As they gasped, their looks of happiness vanished and were replaced with looks of shock and horror. Did Hux just say what they thought he said?

"In this room, there is one blaster. Mine," Hux stated, removing his black pistol from its holster and laying it on the table. "In it, there are two bolts left."

The troopers stared at eachother in awe. They couldn't kill each other, they'd grown so close lately! Exactly like the plan went.

"Once again, Phasma and I will leave and lock the door. You three will have to stay and fight to the death," he stated, smiling menacingly. _This is going to be fun._

Just like he said, he and Phasma left the room promptly, locking the door behind them and leaving the pistol on the table.

AC-1567 couldn't believe what she heard. She couldn't kill her new friends! She started to panic, taking deep breaths as she stared, terrified, at the innocent looking pistol.

"We can't kill eachother," she pleaded. "We _won't_."

"This is what they want," RB-0101 said. "They want us to freak, because it'll show how weak we are."

RB-0101 wasn't going to go down without a fight. Angrily, he stood up and marched over to the pistol.

FN-2191 wasn't surprised in the least. He expected something like this. Because it was so weird that they were allowed to get to know eachother, he knew it must have been leading up to something- but he never imagined something of this caliber.

RB-0101 grabbed ahold of the pistol. He whipped around and pointed it straight at AC-1567's face. She screamed, staring at the muzzle that was floating directly in front of her face.

"Please, RB," she pleaded. "Don't do this."

"I don't want to," he replied. "Believe me, this is the last thing I want to do. But we have no choice." He clicked the safety off and gripped the trigger.

FN-2191 didn't care to listen to their carrying-on. Angrily, he lashed out from his chair, seizing the pistol from RB's hands. Both AC and RB gasped.

"Shut up," FN exclaimed.

"FN, don't do this buddy," RB coaxed. But FN didn't listen.

Almost unthinkingly, as though everything froze around him, he pulled the trigger hard, sending a large red bolt into RB's chest, which sent him flying into the wall.

AC screamed. "FN, please!" She protested. But she could do nothing to stop him. He whipped around and held the pistol in front of her face again, the heat from the previous shot radiating off of it. Just like he did RB, he pulled the trigger once more, which flew his counterpart back into her chair with enough energy to send her crashing onto the floor, chair and all.

It was done. They were both dead. It was that quick.

FN-2191 was the victor.


	9. Chapter 9

Kylo Ren, General Hux, and Captain Phasma stood in front of FN-2191 in the escape pod bay. They were giving him a few last-minute pointers before he be shot into space and off to D'Qar. The command ship was a few planets away from the Illenium System- close enough so that FN-2191 wouldn't have too far to travel, but far enough away that the First Order couldn't be caught on radar.

They had given FN some civilian clothes to make him look more natural. He had food and water for a day, and maps galore on how to get to the Resistance base and back.

"Now remember," General Hux began. "You've just escaped the First Order because you want to join the other... _Side_ ," he said with distaste rolling from his tongue.

FN-2191 nodded nervously. He had gone through the whole plan in his head multiple times and was sure he could get it down. Kylo Ren- who had since received a new mask- walked over and gave him a hard pat on the shoulder.

"Don't screw this up," he said robotically but casually.

"Y-yes sir," FN replied, stuttering. Kylo Ren was much more intimidating with a mask.

FN headed to the escape pod, turning around once more, clicking his heels together and giving the First Order salute. Phasma and Hux did he same, while Kylo stood there, sighing impatiently. He was just there because he wanted to please Snoke.

"Good luck, soldier," Phasma bidded.

"Thank you, Captain."

Finally, carrying his heavy rucksack full of more clothing, food, and many different communications devices on his back, FN-2191 crawled into the escape pod, seeling the door behind him. Sitting in the pilot seat of the cozy pod, he gripped the yoke and turned to Hux, giving him a nod- the signal to launch the pod.

With a burst of light, the pod went sailing out into the black abyss, following the little red trail laid out on the map that FN-2191 set out. Pulling the comlink out of his pocket, FN tried radioing back to Hux, testing one of their many ways of communication.

"Testing, testing," he tried out. "General, are you there?"

Back on the ship, Hux pulled his identical comlink out of his breast pocket as it beeped and squealed.

"Loud and clear, FN-2191," Hux replied. "Is everything going well?"

"Yes General," he said. "Just as planned. D'Qar is only a few hours away."

Though they couldn't see eachother, both FN-2191 and Hux smiled evily. Their plan to thwart the Resistance might actually work.

* * *

They raced through the doors. Rey and Finn flew past offices and hangars, droids and people. Finally, they found the outside exit. Suddenly, Rey froze.

"Wait," she murmured. "Where do we go?"

Finn smiled.

"We can go anywhere."

Smiling back, she grabbed Finn's hand, dragging him to the edge of the tarmac, where they stood at the border of the woods before a long, narrow path. Rey stopped again.

"Can we go into the woods?" She asked. "Are we allowed?"

"Plenty of people have gone in before," Finn reassured. "I'm sure it's fine. I _know_ it's fine."

Averting her gaze to the miles and miles of trees in front of her, Rey stepped forward, placing her feet in the soft grass bordering the woods. It was at this moment that she realized that she didn't have shoes on, but she wasn't bothered.

She liked the way the grass felt between her toes. It tickled; something that the scortching sand on Jakku did not. Rey giggled gleefully, walking steadily into the woods, Finn trailing not far behind.

They walked for hours. Every once in a while, Rey would stop, staring up at the canopy above her, gazing in awe of how something could be so beautiful. She would spin around, smiling and laughing at herself.

She had been in a wood before, but on Takodana, she had been under different circumstances. She didn't have time to take in her surroundings, the only thing on her mind was to run. Fast.

But now, she had time to look around and really contemplate what was going on. And it was all beautiful.

Finn ran up and grabbed her hand.

"What are you doing?" She almost screamed. She whipped around, about to wrench her hand free when Finn stopped her.

"C'mon, there's something I wanna show you," he said, pulling her through more and more trees before coming to a large clearing.

In the middle of the clearing sat a gigantic pond, and in the centre of that gigantic pond sat a small island with a huge, decades old, mystical-looking tree planted smack-dab in the middle. Rey's eyes widened in wonder.

"How did you ever find this?" She asked agape, looking at Finn, who smiled proudly.

"Poe showed it to me. Only some people know about it," he said. "So it's very secretive."

Rey laughed. "Well, I think it's wonderful!"

She ran over to the water's edge, eyes locked on the tree. She couldn't help but think _I could climb that, no problem._

But she stopped, she did have one problem: she couldn't swim, therefore she couldn't get to the giant tree. She looked down to her feet solemnly.

"I can't swim," she mumbled.

Finn's proud smile washed away. He hadn't thought of that before. How could he _not_ have thought of that? Rey was from Jakku, the _desert_ planet. Water was always hard to come by, and _definitely_ wasn't wasted for swimming.

"Oh," Finn said, mirroring Rey's sad tone. "Sorry, I didn't think of that."

"Well, do you know how to swim?" She asked.

"Yes," Finn said. "It was mandatory storm trooper training."

Rey looked at him promisingly, smiling slightly. "You could teach me, couldn't you?"

Finn thought for a moment. Finally, his smile returned.

"Yeah, of course. Why not?"

* * *

FN-2191 was getting close to D'Qar; only an hour yet. His nerves were building.

What if the mission didn't go as planned? What if something got compromised? What if he just died on impact? (He had no idea how to land the pod)

Slowly, the planet of D'Qar came into view, and it's magnificent solar rings aswell.

"This doesn't look too bad," FN said aloud to himself. "It's actually rather nice."

He was to alert General Hux that he was getting close. Pulling out his comlink, he radioed the ship.

"General," he began. "Come in, General."

The line went static for a moment. He must have been going through the atmosphere already- he was told that that would disrupt communications. Then he got a reply.

"FN-2191," Hux began. "Are you getting close?"

"Yes, General," FN stated. "Just got through the atmosphere. Five minutes until this thing touches down."

"Dispose of this comlink as soon as you land," Hux commanded. "At that geographical level, they can scan the frequencies."

"Yes General."

"You must report back every night," Hux said.

"Yes General."

"Good luck, soldier. _Out_ ," Hux snapped, signing off once and for all. Or atleast, for today.

FN sighed, turning off his comlink. He sat back and started scouring the surface of the planet, looking for the Resistance base. Though he knew this was the right planet- this the map proved, he nor the map knew where the base was exactly.

Then he saw it. A long tarmac stuck with old X-Wings. Trails and trails leading off into the woods. A large cliff off to one side.

"Doesn't look too big," he said. He didn't know that it wasn't mostly underground- and it was actually huge.

He gripped the yoke and started his turn towards the base. But to his surprise, the pod wouldn't move. He tried again, pushing it to the right with all of his might.

Then some machine started to beep. He didn't know what it was, but figured it had something to do with how hard he was pushing the yoke, because the beeping stopped abruptly when the yoke snapped off in his hands. FN gasped.

"Shit..."

* * *

Rey and Finn sat by the pond's edge, their feet sitting in the shallow, warm water.

"So you've never been swimming before at all?" Finn asked, almost in denial.

"No," Rey replied. "Not unless sand counts."

Finn laughed. "How do you go swimming in sand?"

"After sand storms, the entrance of my home would get burried," she began, looking at the sky and squinting. "I had to get out somehow."

Finn smiled. "Yeah, I guess."

They sat back, both looking at the sky and the pretty clouds. To Rey, clouds weren't a common sight on Jakku, and when they appeared, they never stayed long. To Finn, clouds also weren't a common sight, when you spent most of your time indoors. They seemed so carefree and whispy, and Rey and Finn were mesmerize by them all.

They were caught off guard when some unknown object shot through the sky, leaving a different trail of its own.

Smoke.

Frantically, Rey looked at Finn, who looked at Rey, equally worried.

"What was that?" They both said at the same time. Stifling, they both stood up, chuckling a little bit at their blunder.

Then they heard a big BANG. The thing must have crashed, and not far from them. They both gasped as the shock shook the ground and dark, grey smoke arose from the trees

"Should we follow it?" Finn asked.

"Umm," Rey pondered. "Someone could be inside it, they could be hurt."

Finn nodded, reaching down and handing Rey her staff.

"Alright then," he said. "Let's go."

They followed the long, dark trail of smoke even farther away from the base. The sight wasn't hard to find. They could tell they were close when they heard the yelling. Rey was right, someone was there- and they were hurt. They called out frantically, voice curling in pain.

Finn and Rey ran even faster, Rey slapping leaves and branches out of their way with her staff. When they finally came to the thing, they both stepped back in shock. The whatever-it-was left quite a large crater. All of the trees surrounding it were scortched or burning, the air was hard to breathe or see through.

The crying was terrible to listen to. It was blood-curdling, gut-wrenching.

"Help- me!"

Wasting no time, Rey grabbed Finn's arm and pulled him down into the boiling hot crater.

"We have to help!" She yelled.

Looking at her feet, which were covered in soot and ash, Finn stopped Rey, tugging her back up.

"What are you going?!" He demanded. "You're in bare feet!"

"Doesn't bother me," she said, staring him in the intensely. Wrenching her arm free, Rey shot him an evil eye, before gracefully sliding back down the side of the crater, her staff leaving indents in the soft earth.

"Come if you want to," she began. "But don't try to stop me!" She yelled back.

Sighing exasperatingly, Finn followed, not wanting to be "that guy".

He wasn't as nimble on the soft ground, and he staggered around a bit as he descended, and the heat was almost unbearable. But Rey barely stumbled. The shifting ground and mind-numbing heat was what she was used to- and it didn't bother her in the least.

Finally, they both reached the bottom of the crater, where the thing was lodged in the ground. They sidled up to the edge of it. Looking to pry it open somehow, Rey put her hand on it, only to recoil in pain as the seering metal burned her skin. She yelped in pain.

Finn's hand shot out and grabbed hers protectively. She looked back at him as he looked into her eyes.

"Don't do that," he said. "It's hot."

"Yeah," she said sarcastically. "Do you really think so?"

Giving her an annoyed look, Finn continued to walk around the pod.

"Hello?" Someone called out- someone from inside. "Is- is there someone there?"

Finn and Rey looked at eachother confused and startled. What do they say?

"Uh," Finn began. "Uh, yeah, we're here to help you."

"Can you see anything?" Rey asked.

"Yes," The person said. "I can see the sky, and the tree line."

"There's got to be a hole in it somewhere," Rey said to Finn.

"Here!" He called out from the other side, finding the hole which the person was talking about. "Rey, here!"

She hurried over to where Finn was, and there was the large crack through the outer wall. Rey stuck her staff in and used it as leverage to pry it open more- not using her hands this time. She pulled with all of her might, but it barely moved.

"Help me, Finn!" She called. Finn grabbed her staff and began to pull aswell. Slowly, the gash in the side of the pod grew bigger. As the side opened up, and light shone through, they could finally see what was on the inside.

A pale, bloody face and scraggly brown hair stared back up at them. Their clothes were torn in places and soaked in blood.

Finn's mind stopped mid-thought. For a moment, he thought he recognized that face. Was it really-?

It couldn't be.

"Help me," the person repeated.

Pushing the gap open a bit more, Rey removed her staff and reached in to grabbed ahold of the person inside. She pulled and pulled but couldn't get them loose. She turned to Finn, looking at him angrily.

"Stop day dreaming and help me!" She yelled.

Jumping from his train of thought, Finn did as she said, reaching in and grabbing the persons shoulder, Rey doing the same. They heaved and groaned as the person was pulled from the thing. Together, they dragged the person out and, panting, carried him out of the crater. All three of them were out of breath.

"Thank you," they said in between gasps.

Finn and Rey smiled proudly at each other.

"No problem," Finn said, speaking for both of them, but Rey didn't mind. She was busy unwrapping the cloth from her forearms to use as gauze for the person's head wound.

"Uh, do you know how to dress a wound?" She whispered to Finn.

Smiling and nodding, he took the loose fabric from her hands and carefully, like a nurse, wrapped it around the persons head. Rey took the bindings from her other arm off and wrapped them around her burnt hand. The burns weren't too bad, she could treat them by herself, but later.

"Thank you again," the person said as Finn finished with wrapping the fabric around his head. Though he could dress a wound properly, that was the extent of his first aid training. "Are you two with the Resistance?"

"Yes, we are," Rey said.

"Good," the person said, finally catching their breath. "I just escaped the First Order."

Rey's eyes shot up to Finn, but he wasn't looking back at her. He was looking down at the person. Maybe he _was_ who Finn thought he was.

"I'm FN-2191."


	10. Chapter 10

Luke was asleep in his cot, suffering from one of his debilitating visions again. He tossed and turned, though his vision was not frightening. It only yielded bad memories.

He was in his A-Wing, having just left the Rebel base on Endor. In the copilot seat lay the unconscious, mind-wiped, 5-year-old Kira Kenobi, whose training tunic and garb had been scrapped for more suitable clothes.

Luke knew he needed to hide Kira. And quickly. Ben- Kylo Ren could find her if she wasn't. Luke decided that the most proper choice would be Jakku. It was an almost exact replica of Tatooine, where she had spent her baby years. The hot climat, never-ending fields of sand. Luke figured she could make it there.

R2-D2 beeped curiously.

"We're going to Jakku, Artoo," Luke replied.

R2 beeped questioningly.

"We need to hide Kira."

Slowly, his ship entered light speed, and the distant stars and planets began to blur. Sitting back to take a little rest, Luke sighed.

"How am I ever going to fix this?" He asked himself, rubbing his hand across his forehead in anguish.

He looked longingly at Kira. She now wore an array of tan coloured clothes and fabrics, stuff that Leia managed to scrounge up in a hurry. An old woven sack hastily sewn into a small shirt, a stretchy, breathable fabric strip, an old pair of grey pants that once belonged to a little Ben Solo.

Her childhood was ruined, now.

Luke felt responsible.

Did something go wrong with his training? Did he say the wrong thing to the teenage Ben? Or was the Dark Side forever looming over the Skywalker family?

Pulled from his train of thought, Luke was startled when his map indicator started to beep.

They were at Jakku.

Luke sighed in relief. He pulled the ship from light speed as the sandy wasteland came up. Slowly, luke descended to the surface of the planet, but didn't land immediately. He couldn't just dump Kira anywhere- she needed someone to help her. Atleast for a while.

He hovered along the sand dunes, staring at the decaying ships that sat idly in the beating sun. Luke remembered the Battle of Jakku. It was only a few years ago, and he remembered how Leia bravely lead the Alliance, though they suffered heavy losses. Luke would have been there to fight aswell, but he had been off training his new generation of Jedi.

Well, guess how that turned out.

Off in the distance, Luke caught a glimpse of what looked to be a town. A few whispy tarps and metal structures stood firmly in the blowing sand.

"Artoo, head for that village," Luke commanded. R2 beeped back in answer.

Slowly, they flew past the village. Luke came to a stop about half a kilometre from the village as to not attract unwanted attention. He quickly jumped from his ship, but left Kira inside.

"Watch Kira," Luke instructed. "If someone gets close to my ship, ward them off somehow."

He ventured to the village, watching as no one seemed to pay him or his ship any mind.

That's strange, Luke thought. In such a desolate place like this, he thought the locals would go crazy over such a modern ship. But they didn't. They kept their eyes down and kept walking. But that was a good thing, because no one cared about Luke. He could go through the place without so much as a second glance.

He spotted a line outside of a metal hut. Curiously, Luke joined the line, in hopes that someone might be able help him. Whoever was inside that hut must be a respected person, or else why would so many people flock to see him?

Growing impatient at the speed in which the line was travelling (very slowly), Luke butted everyone to the front of the line. Finally, he saw who was inside.

A Blobfish? What did he offer that everyone wanted?

Then he saw what he was giving out.

 _Aha_ , Luke thought. _Food_.

Luke cleared his throat. The blobfish looked up at him in disgust, for Luke looked so out of place with his sophisticated Jedi robes.

"What do you want?" The blobfish groaned.

"I need your help," Luke said frantically. "I need you to come with me."

The blobfish growled. "I'm not going anywhere," he replied. "Now get lost- if you aren't already."

Growing frustrated, knowing he couldn't waste time, Luke did the only thing he knew would work- a mind trick.

With a single wave of his hand, Luke tried again.

"You will follow me," Luke said calmly.

The blobfish straightened.

"I will follow you," he replied robotically.

Quickly, the blobfish left his hut, following Luke out half a kilometre to his ship.

They were met by a frantically beeping R2. He spun around in the astromech socket, beeping like he was in the talons of a wampa.

"What is it Artoo?" Luke asked.

R2 beeped again.

"What?" Luke asked in denial. "She's awake?!"

Luke left the blobfish's side and ran to his ship, where Kira now sat screaming, grabbing and clawing at the straps that restricted her to her seat. Her head threw itself back and forth, as though she were possessed.

"Where am I?!" She screamed.

Luke looked at her pitifully, his heart breaking with every word she shrieked.

Kira's head rolled to face Luke, her eyes as big as saucers and spilling over with tears.

"Who- who are you?" She muttered.

"Come here, sweetheart," Luke said, purposely not answering her question. He unbuckled her belt straps, and Kira crawled over the seat and into Luke's arms.

Carrying her out of the ship, Luke jogged back over to the blobfish, taking Kira by the hand. When they got to the blobfish, Luke thrust Kira's hand into his.

"No!" She yelled in protest. Luke tried with all of his might to ignore her pleas.

"You will watch over this girl," he commanded the blobfish with a subtle wave of his hand.

"I will watch over the girl," he replied monotone.

"She has no name," Luke said. "She is no one."

Blobfish nodded.

Luke knelt down to Kira, pulling his hood over his head to hide his face as best he could. He put his hands on her shoulders.

"Stay here, I'll come back for you sweetheart," he murmured. "I promise."

 _Lies_.

"No," she screamed. "Don't leave!"

But she could do nothing to stop Luke. He knew what he needed to do, and this was his only option. He turned his back to the crying girl, who was tugging and clawing at the blobfish's meaty hand, which clung onto her arm.

Luke entered his ship, closing the hatch behind him- silencing the desperate screams and yells.

"Come back!" She yelled.

"Quiet girl," the blobfish commanded.

Kira looked at the blobfish then back at the sky, as Luke's ship blasted off into space.

"No!"

* * *

FN-2191 was taken back to the base. He was currently situated in a room in the medical ward, but would be released soon, because his wounds were not fatal and were easy to treat.

Rey and Finn sat in the mess hall, quietly discussing FN-2191 over their late lunch.

"Do you know him, Finn?" Rey asked, playing with her fork. "You told me 'FN' was where you got your name, were you like him?"

Finn swallowed, clearing his throat. "Yeah, I knew him," Finn began. "FN-2191 was a friend of mine. But I wasn't like him. Yeah, we were all good at combat and stuff, but we were trained from birth," His tone got harsher as he went. "We all had our differences."

"Were you two close?" Rey continued.

Finn looked down at his plate, gripping his utensil in his fist angrily. His knuckles were turning white, he held the spoon so hard.

Noticing Finn's attitude had taken a substantial turn, Rey chose not to pry any longer.

"Sorry," she mumbled, sticking her fork into another piece of food and nibbling on it, though neither of them were particularly hungry anymore. Sighing, Finn stood up.

"I'm tired, Rey," he snapped. "I'm going back to my room."

"It's only mid-afternoon," she rebutted.

Finn shrugged. "I guess I'm just too tired lately."

Rey could sense that something was up with Finn. He hadn't been acting right since they got back from the crash sight, since he'd seen FN-2191.

"Finn," she began softly. "Are you alright?" Rey reached for his hand, mirroring what Finn always did to comfort her. But Finn pulled his hand away in a lightning, instinctive movement.

"I'm fine."

Rey watched sadly as Finn quickly left the mess, shoulders slouched and head hung low.

"Finn," Rey whimpered, tears threatening to form in her eyes. "I'm sorry."

 _What did I say?_ She asked herself. Did she say the wrong thing? She was never good a small talk, she never needed to. But she didn't quite get those subtle queues of when to stop talking.

 _What did I say?_

* * *

Finn shuffled his way down the hall, noticeably agitated. He walked with his head down and didn't seem to keep an eye on where he was going. Unbeknownst to him, he was walking straight into the medical ward. His stance was that of a mad man.

He ambled through the halls, which he knew like the back of his hand. He had spent so many hours in this section of the base, either while he was recovering from his injury or helping Rey recover from hers. He only became aware of his location when he stumbled across the room where FN-2191 was being assessed.

Finn took a peak inside, and in doing so, caught a glimpse of his former comrade, head wrapped in actual gauze and sitting up on the bed, a nurse checking his reflexes and so on. His bag from the wreckage sat by his feet.

Without the blood on his face, Finn could recognize FN-2191 even more. He looked exactly the same as the last time Finn had seen him; same dark hair, same pale skin. But did FN remember Finn?

Finn saw FN-2191 look up at him. FN craned his neck to get a better look at Finn, but Finn had vanished.

It was too much. Finn bolted from the medical ward and went straight to his new room, slamming the door shut behind him, tears springing to his eyes.

Finn threw himself onto his bed. The soft mattress was almost cloud-like, compared to his rock-hard hospital bed. He somewhat regretted choosing this room- it had no window. His room was underground, but on the opposite side of the cliff as the medical ward, therefore no spectacular view.

As he sat lethargic, he looked to his dresser, with its large wooden doors swung open. Inside, on a hanger, sat Poe's jacket, sliced almost in two. Although it had been repaired by the best in the Resistance, the burned and mangled leather was still an eye sore. It was no longer suitable for wear.

Looking at that jacket reminded Finn of where he had come from. How far he had come to get to where he was now.

 _I'm done with the First Order, I'm never going back._ It echoed in his head.

How much he'd changed, even since then.

How many new places he's been to. How many new people he's met, friends he's made, people he's grown to love. So many new things.

So many new, overwhelming things.

He'd abandoned the First Order for a reason. With that, he had abandoned all bonds that he'd made, all friendships he'd had, every accomplishment he'd achieved.

He wasn't going to let FN-2191 send him back to square one.

Breaking his lethargic state, Finn sat up, staring at a blank space on his wall, irrationally mad at FN-2191. He thought he had managed to forget all of those bonds, but he figured wrong.

It wasn't Finn's fault for wanting to leave the First Order, and he couldn't blame others for wanting to finally take a stand and revolt along with him. But at what cost?

Finn had witnessed much more destruction and annihilation with the Resistane than he'd ever seen with the First Order. Seeing that kind of stuff would take a toll on anyone. It had taken its toll on Finn. But then again, it was the First Order that was _doing_ the destruction and annihilation, and Finn didn't want to be a part of that what-so-ever. He chose to be part of the side that was against all of that because _he_ was against all of that.

Staring at that blank space made Finn's mind wander. Did that blank space represent him?

Blank and empty, just like his past and all of his memories? An empty nobody in the grand scheme of things?

These thoughts plagued him. They clouded his thoughts and shadowed his emotions.

Oh, how he just wanted to be held by someone. He wanted to be told that everything was alright, that he didn't need to think like this.

He just wanted to be with Rey.

She always made him happy.

* * *

"2191, General Organa would like to see you," a nurse said, poking her head into his room as FN picked up his rucksack, ready to leave. He nodded, though he had no idea who General Organa was.

"Alright," he mumbled. "Could you show me how to get there, maybe?"

The nurse smiled. "Oh, no, she'll come to you." The nurse said, leaving the door way to make way for Leia. The General strode in tall and proud.

"FN-2191," she said calmly. "I am General Leia Organa." She held her hand out.

"How do you do," FN replied, shaking her hand formally and twiddling his new room key in his fingers with the other.

Leia nodded and continued. "We are pleased that you have chosen to join us-" She stopped, a lump forming in her throat. She quickly ignored it. "And not Kylo Ren."

"Yes," FN said. "I wanted to join the other side," he explained as Hux instructed. "I don't agree with what the First Order is doing."

Leia chuckled. "Well, we don't either. That's why we're here, to stop them. I hope you'll be able to help with that?"

FN nodded once again. "Yes ma'am," he replied.

"If there's anyone you'd like to talk to," Leia began. "I'm available."

"Thank you," 2191 said. "There's actually someone I thought I recognized. Would you know him?"

Leia smiled. "You must be talking about Finn. He was a storm trooper too."

"I don't know his name," 2191 answered solemnly. "Only his ID number."

Leia thought for a moment. She thought she heard Finn mention something about an ID number to Rey or Poe once, but she couldn't remember what it was.

"I don't know his ID number, but I do know his room number."

FN-2191's face lit up. Would he really be able to talk to FN-2187 again?

His comrade? His friend?

His brother?

"If you could give it to me, I'd appreciate it General," 2191 said.

Smiling, Leia pulled out a small data pad and a pen. Going through her logs and charts and libraries, she found Finn's room number and location.

"May I see your hand?" Leia asked. Warily, 2191 held out his hand as Leia wrote down the room number.

 _0317._

* * *

FN walked sheepishly through the halls. He tried to stay focused on the map he held in his hands and not on the looks he knew he was getting. Looks of disgust, looks of anger, occasional looks of sadness. As they saw him, he was just like Finn. A defected storm trooper.

Except for FN-2191, that wasn't exactly the case. But they didn't know that, and he planned on keeping it that way.

He had the room number 0317 circled on the map, though he had no idea how to get there. He just followed the turns and corridors to the best of his ability.

Turning around the final corner, FN came to what he believed-and what his hand told him- was Finn's room. Stoping at the threshold, he took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

* * *

Finn was startled from his trance by someone rapping on his door. Slowly, huffing and puffing, he pulled himself up and waddled to the door, his body stiff from being still for so long.

 _Rey_ , he thought. Just who he wanted to see. _Oh, please be Rey._

Opening the door, Finn was disappointed and almost shocked to find FN-2191 on the other side.

They both stood there, mute, staring blankly at eachother. FN's clean white bandages contrast against dark hair, sticky with a bit of dried blood.

Though a smile crept its way across FN's face, the same was not done for Finn. He didn't know what to think, let alone say. But he didn't need to say anything, because FN beat him to it.

"Shooter," FN said.

Finn squirmed anxiously upon hearing his old nickname. He hadn't been called "Shooter" in a long time. He had garnered the name from his friends Nines and FN-2191, from being such a good shot. Too bad his talent was wasted on a stupid sanitation job.

"Red," Finn replied, reviving his friend's nickname aswell.

"Oh, my god it _is_ you!" FN exclaimed, dropping his sack and throwing himself around Finn, slapping a hand heartily against his back. "Long time no see! How've you been?"

Finn winced in pain as his friend's hand hit his almost-healed and heavily scarred back.

"Injured," Finn said abruptly, referring to his back.

Sheepishly, FN retracted, his face pink in embarrassment. He wasn't used to showing so much affection for one person. He knew that he wasn't supposed to, either.

Part of the criteria for this mission was the ability to break bonds on a whim, and an easy way to do that was to not make any in the first place. That was a rule that FN made for himself, and he'd broken it already.

"I never thought I'd see you again," FN said.

"Same with you," Finn said back. "Why are you here?"

"I, uh, _left_ ," FN said. "Just like you. I wanted to join the other side."

"Well, welcome," Finn said with a gesture of his hand. It was the only not-rude thing he could think of to say.

"Thanks, man," FN replied, giving Finn a lighter pat on the shoulder. "Maybe you can intoduce me to some of your friends?"

"Yeah," Finn said unsurely, nodding slowly. "Maybe tomorrow."

"Alright then," FN exclaimed. "Guess I'll see you then?"

Finn nodded, slowly turning and rudely closing his door in FN's face.

 _He's changed,_ FN thought. _Maybe he just needs to be alone for a while._

FN headed to his room. Upon entry, he was delighted to find an actual bed, dresser, closet and desk all to himself. A private room. What luxury!

But he had no time to bask in the hostility. It was almost nighttime.

He needed to set up communications.

He locked his for and threw his rucksack onto his bed and unzipped it. He was some grateful that his bag wasn't checked when he'd brought it in. Rummaging to the bottom, he pulled out one of the devices.

This one was the most secretive of them all. It was so small that it could fit in a jacket. It had a built in cloaking device so frequency waves couldn't be intercepted, and it had a radius of three star systems! There was no way the First Order could miss his transmissions with a device like that.

Setting the machine on his desk, FN started to attatch the many wires to it.

Crossing his fingers, he reached for the on/off switch. Flicking it on, machine lit up.

It worked! FN smiled devilishly. Keeping his fingers crossed, he grabbed the mic and pressed the transmit button.

"Test, test," he began. "General Hux, are you there?"

No reply.

"This is FN-2191. Do you copy?"

The line went static, then a voice came over.

"FN-2191, have you made it?" He heard the voice ask. The voice of the General. FN smiled.

"Yes, General," he replied. "I've suffered minor injuries-"

"Do you know anything?"

"No, not ye-"

"Radio back when you aquire some information," Hux barked. "This line cannot be held open for long periods. Messages must be brief."

"Yes General," FN obeyed.

"Radio back tomorrow. Out," Hux said, signing off just as quickly as he'd signed on.

FN sighed, flipping the machine off, the lights lingering for a moment. _Well, atleast_ that _works_.

But their plan had only just begun. The worst had yet to come.

FN was making good progress, though neither he nor Hux really realized it. FN was getting to know someone. He was reviving his friendship with Finn, which could only harbour news and intelligence about Resistance plans.

FN felt bad for Finn, for the reason that he might be the Resistance's downfall. But that was only if FN could rekindle their friendship, which was thought to have died along with Finn's previous life as a storm trooper. And so long as FN could play the part of the innocent.

Finn wouldn't fall back that easily. Not when he had Rey and Poe to help him. Not when he had Rey and Poe relying on him.


	11. Chapter 11

Rey sat cross legged on her bed, tending to her burnt hand.

Diligently, she took strips of fabric and soaked them in a bowl of water. Removing the fabric strips, she wrung them out thoroughly and wrapped them around her fingers and palm. She carefully bound the bandages, then proceeded to take more dry fabric and layer that over top tightly. By the end of it, she could barely move her hand, but she knew that this method worked- because it had worked hundreds of times before on Jakku.

Cleaning up the drops of water that she had spilt, Rey was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Hello?" She called.

"Hey!" Someone called back. She was met with a smiling but slightly worried-looking Poe, followed by BB-8, naturally. He must have gotten back from his mission earlier than expected, yet that was probably a good thing.

"Have you seen Finn?" Poe asked.

Rey shook her head. "No," she answered solemnly. "I think he's mad at me."

Poe smirked. "I don't think so," he said reassuringly. "How long since you last seen him?"

"Yesterday in the mess," she replied. "He got flustered and went to his room. Haven't seen him since."

"Have you been to his room to check on him?"

Rey shrugged. "What for?"

"I dunno," Poe ambled. "Incase something happens to him. He's prone to accidents," Poe whispered. Rey chuckled, smiling once again.

"Maybe he just wants to be alone for a while," Rey suggested. "He'll come out when he's ready."

Poe nodded. "You wanna go get something to eat with me? I haven't eaten a meal for a whole day."

 _A whole a day,_ Rey thought sarcastically. Though she wasn't very hungry, she didn't want to be rude, and she wasn't about to turn down free food. Now _she_ knew what it was like to not eat an actual meal for a day- or a week, but she planned on never being hungry for that long ever again.

"Sure," she ambled. "I should get used to eating more than one meal a day." Staff and BB-8 in tow, they headed out towards the mess, getting caught in the breakfast rush of pilots and crew.

* * *

Leia sat in front of Luke in his new room. In between them sat an uncomfortable silence, for Luke was deep in meditation. But Leia didn't mind much. She was used to (not-so-patiently) waiting. She seemed to have been doing a lot of it lately. For Luke, for Rey, Finn, and Poe. For her son. But this she didn't mind so much. Leia was just so delighted to be in the presence of her brother once again.

After a few more silent minutes, Luke calmly opened his eyes, not startled to find his sister sitting in front of him. Luke smiled tiredly.

"Hello Leia," he said quietly. Leia smirked.

"You knew I was here," she guessed.

"Yes I did," Luke replied, nodding and chuckling. "Have you brought news?"

"Yes," she began. "We have a location for a new base."

"Oh really?" Luke questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Where is said location?"

"One of our pilots found it on the recon mission yesterday," Leia began. "Jessika Pava in Red Squad. It's an abandoned moon near Besbin."

"Oh," Luke started. "The Barnush moon?"

"Yes," Leia said. "How did you know?"

"I did a mission there years ago with Lando. The moon is very nice in terms of scenery. Lots of mountains. Very secretive."

"A base there would be hard to find," Leia stated.

"Yes, very," Luke added.

Leia smiled. "Sounds perfect, then."

"When do you plan on transferring everything?" Luke asked. "I can help."

"We need to tell everyone first," Leia said. "We had someone new join us yesterday. A stormtrooper, like Finn."

Luke smiled. "I like that Finn."

Leia smiled back. "So do I. He's been an asset. But we don't know much about him. Well, he doesn't know much about himself, either."

Luke nodded knowingly. "I was once like that. I thought I knew everything about myself, but deep down, I knew nothing." He paused, deep in thought. "Isolation helped with that."

Leia frowned. Luke's isolation had not helped her. Not in the least. Luke left during a pivotal and important part in reshaping the galaxy after the destruction of the Empire and the construction of the New Republic. Though the Empire was no more, the dictatorship of a certain Ameraeus Snoke was taking shape. He was the ruler of a far off planet which Leia didn't know the name of. She only met Snoke when he wound up on Hosnian Prime, during one of her newly formed New Republic meetings.

His stance at the time was a polite alien species. But as time progressed, his wrath flourished. He disagreed markedly with every peaceful idea they thought up. Sometimes, he grew violent. He also drew a liking to little Ben Solo, who, at the time, only visited briefly. He was off training to be a Jedi. Snoke felt something inside if him that no one else could feel. He saw potential where others saw fault.

"Your isolation did not help me."

Luke bowed his head in shame. Yes, even though he had been so far away from his sister, he felt Leia's anguish. He felt her anger. He felt her sadness and hatred for the men in their family. All of them- her father, her brother, her husband, her son- all gone. They left her to deal with the unraveling galaxy on her own. Resilient and self reliant as she was, Leia did just that. She didn't need the help of men. She was a general, after all. She lead an army. She lead a planet. She lead a galaxy full of people who were at their wit's end with the shenanigans of the destructive First Order. She was able to unite a group of people who were brave enough to fight back against the evilness that was foreshadowing their fate. And she did it well.

Luke raised his head and opened his mouth to speak, but Leia put her hand out in protest.

"Save it, fly boy, I've gotten over it. Forgive and forget."

Luke sighed a sigh of relief. He didn't want the wrath of his sister weighing down on him, or the strength of the Resistance breathing down his neck.

* * *

Although Kylo Ren was at ease physically, his mind was constantly racing from one thought to another. More so lately, his thoughts focused on the voice he'd heard.

 _Han Solo was always good at jokes._

The voice was that of a young man. His voice was deep and mellow, as though he had no worries. He sounded calm, but sad. Maybe although he had no worries anymore, he had before. Everyone has that one thing that they can never forget or live down. For Kylo Ren, there were plenty. Many of which he'd gotten over, with the help and influence of Snoke. But one thing kept troubling him. It still clouded his every thought. He saw it when he looked at himself in the mirror. He felt it when his side suddenly stabbed him with pain. He was reminded of that fateful night at the now non-existent Starkiller Base. The night he killed Han Solo. The night he fought against (and almost killed) Finn. The night he fought against (and was almost killed by) Rey. The night the lives of every one of those people changed forever.

He sought deliverance in Snoke. Then, as he sat in Snoke's chambers, he awaited the relieving sense of accomplishment, which never came.

"You are troubled," Snoke announced.

"Yes, Supreme Leader," Kylo answered. "I don't know why."

"Your past actions are causing you grief," Snoke said.

Kylo nodded. "They are."

"Soon, we will have a plan to thwart the Resistance," Snoke assured Kylo. "And with the end of the Resistance comes the end of your worries. Embrace your anger. It yields power."

Kylo wasn't so sure. He had been embracing his anger for years now. It helped him at first, he'd become the leader of the Knights of Ren, though his Force powers might have helped with that. His anger is what allowed him to become such an authoritative figure. A noble and respected- feared- person. Snoke helped Kylo Ren embrace that anger, and helped him complete his only partially completed Force training. Anger was a large part of that. Anger was a driving force. Kylo's fighting style was brash and vicious- as taught by Snoke.

"I hear voices," Kylo said, relieved to get it off his chest.

"Are they sentient? Demonic?" Snoke asked.

"No," Kylo said. He couldn't describe the voice other than sounding of a young man.

"Well, that's a very broad spectrum of people," Snoke said. "Next time it happens, tell me."

"Yes Supreme Leader."

"This could be a sign," Snoke began. "A sign that your training is near completion."

Kylo Ren liked that idea. He had been training for so long and had learned so much, but there was still so much more he wanted to do. He was power-hungry.

Selfishness: an element of the Dark side. Embrace it, Kylo Ren.

"This could also be a sign of the Light side... Calling..."

* * *

"Attention pilots, technicians, ground crew, officers, droids, and respected individuals," an officer announced over the intercom and throughout the entire Resistance base. "Please meet on the south tarmac in ten minutes, under orders of General Organa."

As the people began to flock, Leia stood behind a small podium, squinting in the sunlight. Close by, Luke and Jessika Pava sat next to her.

Jessika looked at Luke in wonder and amazement. She couldn't believe who she was sitting next to. Was it really Luke Skywalker? The Luke Skywalker? Rebel pilot, famous for blowing up the Death Star and destroying the Empire? Jessika leaned closer to Luke.

"Are- are you Luke Skywalker?" She whispered.

Luke sighed and chuckled. "Everyone seems to be asking that." He turned to Jessika with a smile. "Yes, yes I am." He held his hand out to shake hers. Jessika gladly grabbed his hand and shook it wickedly, beaming from ear to ear.

"And who are you?" Luke asked.

"Jessika Pava," she said. "My friends call me 'Testor'."

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Pava. Congratulations on finding that planet," Luke praised.

Jessika couldn't stop smiling. _Luke Skywalker is_ actually _talking to me_ , she thought. _Someone pinch me!_

The people gathered. They seemed to separate themselves into groups of pilots, technicians, and ground crew, and groups of officers, droids, and said respected individuals- Finn, Rey, and FN-2191. Except Finn didn't show up.

"Good afternoon, Resistance," Leia called, her body tense and rigid. The people quieted quickly and looked at her with interest. All at once, every one of them came to attention.

"Good afternoon, general!" They shouted back.

"At ease," Leia commanded, standing more relaxed. They all stood easily again, but continued to give her the much garnered attention she had earned.

"As some of you know, we have been looking for a location for a new base," Leia began. The wing nodded and "hmm"-ed in reply to the news. Leia smiled. She looked at Jessika and at Luke, nodding. They nodded back. The grounds were dead silent. You could hear the leaves rustling in the warm breeze. Leia took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she was about to say.

"Well, I am pleased to announce that we have found a habitable planet!"

The entire Resistance roared! Everyone threw their hands into the air. Pilots tossed their helmets up, officers threw their folders into the sky, sending papers everywhere. But they didn't care. No one did! The entire planet seemed to be in a combined state of complete euphoria.

"I would like to call upon pilot Jessika Pava," Leia said. "If it were not for her valiant bravery and brilliant recon skills, we might still be looking for a planet. Who knows how long we might have been looking for," Leia paused as everyone clapped for Jessika. "For that, I would like to present miss Pava with a medal of bravery."

Jessika stood and walked over to the podium. Coming to attention in front of Leia, she saluted. Leia saluted back. Both smiling brightly, Leia shook Jessika's hand and presented her with the medal in the other. Once again, the croud cheered.

"Congratulations, Jessika," Leia said.

"Thank you, General," Jessika replied. They both turned to face the croud as someone ran up and snapped a photo.

"Yeah, Testor!" Someone shouted from the back. Jumping up and down and pumping their firsts were Poe Dameron, Snap Wexley, and the rest of both Red and Blue Squadron. Jessika couldn't help but laugh at her quirky crew.

Meanwhile, Rey was looking around anxiously for her best friend- who was nowhere to be found. She could see Poe, who was standing not far from her. She could just barely see Leia at the front. She could definitely see Chewbacca, because he was so tall. Not many others she recognized.

She felt sort of lost without Finn.

She did recognize their newest member. FN-2191 stood not far from her, and he looked lost as well. He cocked his head curiously as Leia spoke, as though he was listening very closely. He even took notes! His head was still bound in bandages, but his face was clean of blood. He looked around contently, taking in his surroundings and the new people. Rey stared at him suspiciously. He seemed very confident for being so new. As the meeting went on, he didn't just stand there looking lost and confused as Rey and Finn once did when they were new. He didn't try to become one with the shadows.

"Reorganization and transportation of base will begin tomorrow morning," Leia said. "Squadron commanders and officers will assign certain duties to certain people. This relocation needs to be small and quiet; we don't need the First Order finding out about this."

FN smirked slyly. "Don't worry," he whispered under his breath dramatically.

As the meeting disbanded, he hurried back to his room, trying not to look at anyone as to not attract attention- though he was probably getting stares by _not_ looking at anyone. The Resistance base was a place full of aliens of different origins and pasts, of different species and races. Scars and deformities weren't scarce, either. Everyone was used to the stares they got, and wasn't bothered when someone did. FN fit right in with his bandaged head.

Locking the door behind him, he sat down at his desk in front of the communication device. He set his pad and pen down next to it. _New base: Barnush- Tomorrow-_ it read. Flipping the switch, he groped for the mic.

"Come in General Hux," he whispered. He could hear people walking around out in the hallway, and he definitely didn't want them to hear him.

"General," he repeated. The line crackled and hummed. Anxiously, FN waited for a reply.

"FN-2191," Hux finally answered. "I gather you have new information?"

FN smiled, though he knew Hux couldn't see him. "Oh, yes, General."

"Well then?"

"They're moving. To the Barnush moon, just off Bespin," FN relayed.

"When is this taking place?"

"Tomorrow."

The line went quiet, and FN grew worried. Hux was a well spoken man. He usually paused before talking or giving an answer, for he didn't want to come off as a simple-minded fool. "General, are you there?"

"Excellent," Hux finally said. "Exellent news, FN-2191. Your work is greatly appreciated."

"Thank you," FN replied. "What's your plan, General?"

"Our plan?" Hux questioned. "Our plan is to stop them."

* * *

General Hux dashed through the corridors to Snoke's chambers. Pushing open the doors, he found Snoke sitting idly as usual. Instead this time, he held a staff. A great metal staff with a sphere at either end. Great for butting people over the head with.

"Supreme Leader," Hux said, bowing to one knee.

"General Hux," Snoke relayed. "Have you any news?"

Hux stood again, mouth edging a smile. He slowly nodded.

"Yes, Supreme Leader," Hux began. "The Resistance is moving. They're transporting everything tomorrow."

Snoke cackled menacingly. "Good! Perfect timing."

"How so?" Hux asked.

"The fleet had recovered with a brand new level of pilots and bombers," Snoke stated. "With their advanced training, there's no way we can fail."

Hux nodded in agreement. "What is the plan?"

"Well, what do you suggest, General? Planning is your area of expertise."

Hux thought. There were plenty of ways to sabotage the Resistance. First, they could attack as soon as possible, before they have a chance to leave D'Qar. Second, they could attack them en route to the Barnush moon, but there was a great chance that some could get away. Third, they could get to the moon ahead of them and capture them all, but they had the greatest chance of being detected that way. Lastly, they could wait an extra day and attack them while they were reorganizing- this idea harboured the least side effects. Hux pondered and weighed each idea in his mind. Each one had their downside, but which one would be most effective? Their losses didn't matter in the end, so long as the Resistance come out severely damaged, if not completely destroyed. Hux told Snoke of his plans.

"Hmm," Snoke mumbled. "I like all of those, but the one that makes the most sense would be to wait a day. That gives us time to plan even more and to organize an attack squadron."

Hux nodded in agreement. He was proud hat he could help. He wanted this to be a success as much as anyone else. He wanted to prove his worth. This could actually work, with more thorough planning and precise details, it could be a real success.

 **Sorry for the long wait. I've had problems coming up with a story line, and I've been away for the past five days and just got back. But I have the next two chapters all planned out! Expect them soon! They plan on being intense.**

 **~MEH**


	12. Chapter 12

"Finn," Poe said, knocking on his door. There was no reply. "Maybe he's asleep."

"I doubt it," Rey replied, tapping her staff and foot on the floor in rhythm. "If he was, he isn't anymore. He sleeps pretty lightly."

"Well, what are we gunna do?" Poe asked. BB-8 beeped confusingly.

"Stand back," Rey said, taking a deep and sharp breath before raising her leg. She bashed her foot against the door with a BANG, sending it flying inwards on its hinges. BB-8 and Poe looked at her in silence, a look of wonder, awesomeness, and horror washed across Poe's face.

"Alright," Poe mumbled under his breath. "That was awesome." He began to laugh. Rey didn't know what he was taking about. She was used to having to stuff like that.

They headed into Finn's room, only to find him passed out, facedown on his bed, fast asleep. They both sighed disappointingly. Rey and Poe went to either side of his bed and knelt down. Gingerly, Rey put her hand on Finn's arm. She gently shook him in attempts to wake him up.

"Finn," she whispered. "Finn, wake up."

Slowly, Finn began to stir. He lifted his face from his pillow and groggily opened his eyes. They were bloodshot. His face damp and sticky. Had he been crying?

"Hey, bud," Poe said softly. BB-8 beeped quietly. "You alright?"

Finn groaned and flopped back down onto his bed, burrying his face back into his pillow shamefully. "I'm fine," he moaned. But he wasn't, and both Rey and Poe knew it.

"No you're not," Rey demanded. "Finn, look at me."

Finn refused. He grumbled incoherently and pushed Rey away. She recoiled and stood up, stomping her foot poutingly. She looked at Poe as if to say "did you see _that_?!", but he gave her no pity.

"Be gentle," he said to her. "You're going too fast."

Rey rolled her eyes with a huff but kneeled back down again.

"Finn," Poe tried. "You wanna talk?"

"No," said he through the pillow.

"Trick question," said Poe. "You have to talk." Finn gave a forced laugh. Silently, he rolled to face Poe and looked up at him. He looked terrible, only to put it nicely.

"What's wrong?" Rey asked, calmer this time.

"Nothing," said Finn, sniffling.

"You're a terrible liar," Poe mused. Finn sighed and finally sat up. He down looked at his hands. He was really struggling not to cry.

"Talk to us," said Poe. "We're here for you."

"You've always been here for us," Rey added. But Finn wouldn't talk. _Couldn't_ talk. He was so on the verge of crying that he couldn't speak without his voice cracking. He cleared his throat a couple of times but still couldn't utter a word.

"Take your time," Poe coaxed.

"Is- is this about FN-2191?" Rey asked warily. Slowly, Finn nodded. They both couldn't describe the sorrow they felt for Finn when he couldn't hold back his tears anymore. They rolled down his cheeks like a river with a single blink. Rey was quick to grab his hand. This time, Finn didn't refuse. He took advantage of her comfort unlike he had before. He took his other hand and held it up to his eyes, scrunching up his sleeve and wiping away some tears while stifling a sob.

"Do you want to see him?" Rey continued. Finn shook his head violently. FN was the _last_ person he wanted to see at the moment. FN reminded Finn of who he really was- who he used to be. Though he was no longer a stormtrooper, he had been for most of his life, up until a month ago. Not much existed from that previous life; most of his most cherished memories took place under the iron Resistance umbrella.

But he did have some memories from the First Order. He had to. Most of those memories took place while he was in the company of Nines and FN-2191- Red. They got into some crazy situations, most of which Finn's critical thinking for them out of. But his First Order experiences weren't all fun and games. Training had taken a toll on everyone. Though not common, some stormtroopers were prone to violent or emotional outburst. Finn included. Luckily, he hadn't had one recently. He had Rey and Poe to keep him sane. Except for this one moment.

"I'm sorry," Finn managed to eek. "I'm sorry."

Poe laughed. "Don't apologize, buddy. It's not like this is the first time this happened."

Finn wiped away more tears. "It's not?" He said through sniffles.

"Remember me?" Asked Rey. "I was a wreck."

Finn couldn't help but scoff at that. He remembered when Rey broke down during her recovery. She wasn't used to being confined to a bed, reliant on others for everything. It had managed to bring her down so much that she began to hurt herself: constantly hitting, scratching and grabbing her arms, wringing them tightly in anger. She had marks on her arms for days. She needed someone to be there to tell her that she was alright, which she did. Finn and Poe were constantly at her bedside, calming her down and telling stories to take her mind off of her condition.

Funny how Finn always felt sorry for her. Now he was in her position, only he was restrained in a different way. He was emotionally restricted. He couldn't think about anything without the First Order popping back into his head. _His_ past actions were causing him grief.

"What's up about FN-2191?" Poe asked.

Finn took a deep breath and thought about what he should say; how he should explain how he felt. He didn't want to be misunderstood, because that so often happened. He closed his eyes as he spoke.

"He..." Finn began. "He was my friend. One of my closest."

Rey and Poe nodded and listened tentatively. "Go on," said Poe. Finn cleared his throat as it caught again and again.

"I thought I left all of that behind, though," Finn admitted. Tears sprung to his eyes again. Not wanting to faulter once more, he quickly pawed them away with his sleeve. "I'm not a stormtrooper. I'm _not_ a stormtrooper."

"You're not a stormtrooper," Rey repeated. "We know that."

"I'm _not a stormtrooper_!" Finn exclaimed, flinging himself onto Rey and Poe, hanging onto them for dear life. Sobs wracked his body. Tears poured from his eyes and splotched Poe and Rey's clothes. Their hearts broke as they listened to their best friend fall apart with each heave he gave. Just listening to him made them tear up aswell. All they could do was pat him on the back as he clung to them.

Was this what Finn had come to? Had he been holding this in the whole time? How come he felt the need to hold this in? Bottling stuff up was not a good method, Poe knew. He had seen the outcomes of untreated anxiety and depression, and he didn't want to watch another friend go through that ever again.

"It's alright," Poe soothed. "You're fine. You're Finn,"

"Not FN-2187," Rey finished. "You're a Resistance fighter."

Finn sighed heavily, tears ceasing to fall. He sniffled and raised his head.

"I know," he whispered. His voice was hoarse. "I'm sorry," said he again.

"Stop apologizing," said Poe. "It's good to get it out."

"Better than keeping it inside," Rey added. "What about FN-2191 don't you like?"

"It's not that I don't like him," Finn began. "It's what he brings. He brings back memories. I just want to leave it all _behind_."

"You have," said Rey. "As soon as you helped Poe escape you left it all behind."

"I'm sure that's only what FN-2191 wants too," said Poe. "You can make new memories and leave the old ones behind."

"Just don't forget us," Rey reputed comically. Finn laughed.

"I couldn't if I tried," he replied. Holding Rey's hand in one and grabbing Poe's in the other, he squeezed them both tightly. "Thank you."

Rey and Poe smiled. "Glad we could help," Rey voiced.

"We don't like to see you so sad," Poe added. "Don't do this again," said he with a laugh.

"Should I go talk to 2191?" Finn asked.

"Up to you," said Rey.

"Actually," Poe interrupted. "We're packing. You need a job."

"Packing?" Finn questioned. "For what?"

"We've found a new base. We're moving today."

* * *

Everyone around the base was doing their part to make the move go as smooth and quiet as possible. Officers took boxes of papers and documents, droids pushed trolleys of tools, pilots loaded crates of parts onto shipping freights. Chewbacca was instrumental when it came to loading stuff onto the Millennium Falcon, because he was so strong. He could carry three full boxes at once! All most important documents were transported on the Millenium Falcon.

With Rey and Chewbacca at the helm, they would lead the way. Leia and Luke would show them where to go. R2, C-3PO, Finn and FN were there because they had to be.

Luke was a little wary of the trip. He knew he would have to at least talk to Rey at some point. Would he finally get the guts to tell her of her past, or would he crumble and fall back like he did before? Finn felt the same way about FN. He knew he meant well and all, but it had been too much for Finn at the time. But after his talk with Rey and Poe, being able to get it all off his chest, he felt better. He knew bottling it up was bad for himself, and talking about it to them made a world of difference. He knew he could muster up the courage to talk to him.

But everyone was busy at the moment. The relocation was well underway.

Poe and Red Squadron had set out early to do some recon and find the perfect spot to start construction. Though that was the planet they wanted to use, they did need a place to have a base. They couldn't just show up and have a base already there.

After getting himself cleaned up, Finn did his part and started loading up some boxes of tools onto the Falcon too. He was picking up another one when he caught a glimpse of FN-2191 for the first time in two days. He was headed onto the Falcon, aswell. Finn grew worried. Would they be traveling together? Would he be mad at Finn for being rude to him last time?

But then he was gone. FN took his load onto the Falcon and left to get another. Finn was a little too slow. He sighed disappointingly, but continued with his job. He was doing his job well, and didn't want to head.

But FN hadn't disappeared inside the Falcon or the base, he snuck up behind Finn. Finn was startled by a tap on his shoulder.

"Uh!" He exclaimed, quickly turning around in an instinctive position, hand stuck out infront if him, ready to fight off an attacker. FN put his hands up defensively.

"Just me, Shooter," he said calmly but worriedly. Finn and FN both lowered their hands. FN smiled.

"I'm glad to see you out," he began. "I was worried about you, cause I hadn't seen you in so long."

Finn sighed. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine." He hesitated.

"Look, Red, I'm sorry," he started. "For how rude I was. The other day."

FN smiled. He shrugged. "That's alright, I'm sure I wasn't the person you were expecting to find.

"Yeah, but that's no excuse..." Finn stopped. He took a deep breath. He was finally going to talk about it.

"I just want to forget the past," he blurted. "We're both done with the First Order, right?"

FN froze. No, he was _not_ done with the First Order. The reason he was there was _because_ of the First Order. He was on a secret mission, anyway! But what was he to say?

"Yeah, of course," he stuttered. "Screw the First Order."

 _Play it cool, keep your cover._

Finn sighed a great sigh of relief. "Great, because that's been bugging me. We used to be friends and all, but when I left I thought I left all that behind. I was planning on starting a new life, which I have, really. But I never expected to ever see one of you again. Not that I never wanted to see you ever again, it's just-"

FN laughed. "Cool it, Shooter," said he. "That's fine. I didn't expect to ever see you again either, really. But a happy surprise."

Finn smiled. "Can we be friends again?"

FN nodded. "Of course. As long as you don't mind me calling you Shooter!"

"As long as you don't mind me calling you Red," Finn replied. They both smiled at eachother. Finn held out his hand. Apprehensively, FN- Red, reached his out aswell. They shook hands- a truce. An alliance. An agreement.

"Forget the past," said Finn.

"Forget the past," Red repeated.

Finn couldnt describe how relieved he was. Red couldn't either. But they were both relieved for different reasons.

Finn was relieved and happy that their friendship had been rekindled, but that they were able to avoid the past and look to the future instead. Even though he was moving on, it was nice to have a long-time friend as a crutch.

For Red, he was relieved to have a way of means to get secure and trustworthy information. Though he appreciated Finn as a friend, his mission came first. He had a responsibility. He couldn't and wouldn't let Finn get in the way.

* * *

Once again, General Hux and Kylo Ren strode powerfully in front of columns of fighter pilots, suited up and ready for their last briefing.

Infront of Hux were 18 squadron and 652 squadron. Each squadron had about ten pilots in each. In their rows, they stood rigid, as though they had pickets stuck up their spines. Their intimidating black uniforms reflected the blindingly bright lights on the hangar ceiling.

"Our mission takes place tomorrow," Hux began. "The order of plans is to only be discussed in this room."

They all nodded.

"Phase one of the plan is to make it to the planet. Whilst doing so, you must make sure that there are no enemy aircraft present in the skies. They make our mission so much _harder_ ," said Hux, grumbling.

They nodded once again and listened contently.

"Phase two," Kylo announced. "Find exactly where they're constructing their base. The planet is no longer inhabited since the Empire ruled, so don't worry about civilians."

"Phase three," Hux finished. "Eradication. Once you locate the base, destroy it. And with it, all the Resistance scum that you can see. They are in the middle of construction, so they are vulnerable."

They nodded lastly.

"Do you have any questions?" Kylo asked. No one said anything, so he took that as a no. "Dismissed," he said with a gesture of his hand. They all marched out of the hangar and to their individual duties. Kylo turned to Hux.

"What are we going to do about our Resistance spy?" He asked.

Hux hadn't forgotten about FN-2191- Red. He had plans for Red. Hux had no idea what kind of stuff Red had gotten into at the Resistance base, besides what he had been told. He had no idea whether or not he had leaked First Order info to them, but Hux was not prepared to take risks. His plan for Red involved torture and heavy reconditioning. If all else failed, execution.

If needed.

The First Order would not withstand another full-scale attack from the Resistance if one were to take place. They really needed to take them out soon if they were to survive another raid- the Resistance could only grow since their victory. Their triumph would spread, and of course, everyone would want to join them instead. The winning side. The First Order ranks had substancially dropped (and not just because of the Starkiller Base disaster), aswell as their enrolment numbers. They were shrinking, unless they could up their appeal. They were still an unstoppable force, but without new soldiers, they would grow weak over time. Their strategies would play old. Their tactics would shed their edginess. The First Order would fall.

Hux wouldn't let that happen. And that's why Red couldn't be let back into the First Order without all Resistance brainwashing overrided.

But nonetheless, Hux and Kylo had a mission to plan. Though most of it was already set up, something was bound to go wrong. Something always does! Hux was prepared for some bumps along the way, but he was determined for this to work. The last bit of planning had to do with the actual destruction of the base.

Their pilots had been told to bomb it ruthlessly, and that's what they would do. But strategically, there were specific things that needed to be destroyed. The Millenium Falcon, their shipping freights, and their documents were of special importance.

Kylo Ren's stomach churned at the thought of the Falcon behind destroyed. His childhood, though mostly unpleasant and full of empty memories, took place on that ship. He also got weak at the thought of his mother being killed. His cherished mother? The only bringer of light whom he had growing up?

That would not happen.

As a little tradition, Kylo Ren spoke to the helmet of his late grandfather the night before every mission. That night was no exception. As he knelt, he removed his helmet, feeling as though it opened himself up to his grandfather even more. Thus their half-mute conversation began.

"Grandfather," Kylo announced in his rough voice. "I want you to look after mother."

Nothing.

"I know the raid has many outcomes, none of which I can foresee. She needs to be safe."

Silence.

"I love her, I don't want her to die. My mother is still dear to me. She could be in real danger, so please, just watch over her."

He sat awaiting his responce of deafening silence. Sighing, he reached for his mask. The Darth Vader helmet yielded no responce once again. Placing his helmet over his head, he turned and got up.

 _No_ , someone echoed. It hadn't come from the hallway, it hadn't come from a comlink. It had come from Kylo Ren's head. The same voice he had heard before was once again reaching out to him. The young, sad-sounding man. Jumping upon the chance to talk to him, whoever he was, Kylo Ren asked him a question immediately.

"Who are you?" He asked, pulling his helmet back off.

 _She has pushed me away_ , he said solemnly, his voice tinged with sadness. His tone had not changed.

"Who? Who pushed you away?" Kylo asked, rushed.

 _She won't accept my offer. I can't get through to her anymore._

" _Who_?!" Kylo repeated, getting agitated at the voice for not answering him. But the voice was no more. He had once again disappeared into the bottomless, soundproof gorge of the Force.

Kylo Ren remained rattled at the appearance of the voice again. Should he tell Snoke, as he had been told, or should he take care of this himself? It all depended on what Snoke had planned for that situation.

He chose to keep the voice his little secret. He didn't need Snoke butting in on his personal life more than he was already.

* * *

Leia took one last longing look at the now desolate Resistance base on D'Qar. The bare tarmac, the empty hangars and halways. Empty but full of memories.

Leia was hopeful for the future. A move would be good for them, and refreshing. Though she hated leaving the beautiful planet, she knew she would come to love the new one as well, as she always did. Her least favourite base was Hoth, because it was so cold. Luckily, they weren't there for very long. She heard about how pretty this new planet was, with its tall mountains and giant, lush valleys with rivers running through them. She knew she wasn't the only person who would enjoy the Barnush moon.

Rey and Finn were especially excited. There were so many new things for them to explore on D'Qar, and although they hadn't seen everything, they were looking forward to what else they could find on the moon. They scampered up the ramp of the Falcon, where Red, Luke, Chewbacca and the droids were already waiting. Saying one last goodbye, Leia followed them up. She turned and waved as the ramp closed beneath her.

In the cockpit sat Luke, Chewbacca, Rey, and shortly, Leia. The two pilots started the ship up and slowly, they lifted off the ground. Finn hurried into the cockpit to take one last look at the base and, in doing so, affectionately placed his hand on Rey's shoulder. She looked at it curiously but decided to not fight him about it. She left it there, and it made her happy. She couldn't deny that Finn always made her feel better, no matter how sad or happy she already was.

Luke wasn't so cheerful. He was sitting in the presence of Rey, whom he hadn't seen in weeks. He had been avoiding her on purpose. He needed to organize his thoughts and find out how to properly approached her about her past- which she knew nothing about. He was unsure of how to react if she were to bring it up.

They had left the atmosphere of D'Qar when Leia beckoned Luke out into the corridor. She lead him away from the crew quarters where Finn, Red, R2-D2, and C-3P0 patiently waited. She took him to the secluded maintenance bay. Stationing herself infront of her brother, she took an authoritative stance. But instead of striking up a conversation, she gleaned at him. Unable to handle the diseasing silence any more, Luke was the first one to speak.

"What is this about?" He asked. Leia chuckled but didn't answer his question. Luke sighed. "Is this about Rey?"

Leia nodded. "You need to talk to her, Luke. You can't keep avoiding your problems."

 _Well I've been avoiding them for fifteen years,_ Luke thought brashly.

"I know you've been avoiding her on purpose," Leia admitted. Luke scoffed.

"Well, how am I supposed to bring up something so... _Heavy_ as her past?" He rebutted.

"She's more approachable than you think," Leia quipped, raising her eyebrows.

"I'll think about it," said Luke. He turned and started to leave.

"You know she has the Force, right?" Leia called. Luke froze, shoulders slouched. That's right. Oh, he had forgetten about Rey's Force abilities. Were they still active? Had they depleted? She did say something about fighting Kylo Ren- and winning. But in Luke's eyes, she was no longer Kira Kenobi, one of his most promising students, able to take a jug of water and pour it into a glass, using the Force seamlessly. She was now Rey, the dismal scavenger from Jakku, who could fight like a boss but no longer had the Force wrapped around her finger.

"She needs to be trained."

Luke was extremely hesitant when it came to training new a Jedi- even if she was already partially taught. He couldn't go through what he did with Ben again with Rey.

"I can't, Leia," Luke murmured.

Leia fathomed the thought of Rey going untaught. Though Leia was untrained in the Force, she still held its abilities- and she could sense all of Rey's potential. It would be a shame to let it go to waste.

"Whatever," Leia scoffed. They both left the bay.

* * *

It wasn't until they were well into the halfday-long trip that Rey finally left the cockpit to stretch her legs. She chatted with Finn, where she was finally introduced to Red for the first time. She gave Finn a look of accomplishment, which to he replied:

"You and Poe were right." Rey smiled. _Of course we were._

She continued on her way to wherever Luke was. She was determined to find him and talk to him. She wanted to be trained in the Force. She walked around before she found him, once again, in the crew quarters, only this time, he wasn't asleep. He sat on the bed, reading an old pamphlet about the Rebel Alliance. Rey knew little about the Rebels, but she knew they had a conflict on Jakku once. How else would so many of their ships have ended up there? Rey cleared her throat to get Luke's attention. He turned, somewhat startled, to look at Rey.

"Oh," he said, somewhat disappointed. He never intended on actually taking Leia's advice and talking to Rey. If he could, he planned on avoiding Rey for as long as he could. Well, that didn't go as planned. "Hello, Rey."

"Hello, sir," she returned. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

Like sighed. "Did Leia tell you to come see me?"

Rey got confused. "No," she answered. "Should she have?"

Luke shook his head. "Never mind. What did you want to talk about?" He asked warily.

"I want to be trained."

Luke's mind halted. Great, just what he didn't want to hear. He couldn't trust any new learners. Not after the turmoil with Ben.

But it was Rey, and she already was somewhat fluent in the Force. She sure could wield a light saber, and could successfully pull off a mind trick. Not even Luke could do that well! Everywhere she was, every time she walked into a room, you could feel her power. She could be a powerful Jedi, if only she were trained. Luke couldn't bring himself say no. Really, her future lied in his hands.

So did her past.

Luke sighed heavily. "Yes," he announced. "I'll train you."

Rey's face lit up. Her happiness was indescribable.

"Thank you," she exclaimed. "Thank you, sir!"

Now all Luke needed to do was remember how to train, if he would go through with it at all. Luke couldn't afford to have another pupil turn to the Dark side.

* * *

Starting up their fighters, 18 and 652 squadron prepared for take off. The 20 TIE fighters would be their means of travel to the Barnush moon, a whole days trip across the galaxy. They were so far as to not be noticed or picked up by any Resistance scanners. The giant Star Destroyers were more likely to be noticed than the tiny black fighters and one First Order transport shuttle which housed General Hux and Kylo Ren. They were not going to be left out of this.

Given the command to leave, 18 squadron took flight. They left the hangar, followed by the shuttle, and 652 took up the rear. The shuttle was sandwiched between so it would have the most protection.

Inside the shuttle, Hux and Kylo talked about everything. Their strategies, their plan, individual jurisdictions. They had no idea how much they would have constructed, but no matter what, everything in sight was to be bombed. If it looked like a structure, crate, person or thing, it was a target.

"We should get there around mid-day, Bespin time zone," Hux stated, rubbing his hands together.

"This better go well," said Kylo. Hux smirked.

"Don't worry," he replied. "I have a good feeling about this. We'll get to solid land, and kill off any remaining Resistance scum."

 _Resistance scum_ , like Kylo's mother, perhaps? Chewbacca, the walking carpet of playfulness? The rest of the respected officers whom Kylo remembered from his childhood- though he never admired them so much-? Under his mask, he squinted his eyes in anguish. His hands balled into fists underneath the instrument panels. His mother was to go untouched, or so help him, Kylo Ren would go berserk.

 _Watch over her_ , he said to his grandfather. Of course, he got no reply.

Thus began their day long journey to bitter destruction.

 **Alright, this is the longest chapter I've written, and I really like it, so I hope you do too! Remember, feel free to comment and/or review! It's appreciated! I still have the entire next chapter planned out, so expect that soon too!**

 **~MEH**


	13. Chapter 13

"If you're going to train, Rey," Luke began. "We'll need to start as soon as possible."

Rey nodded. She shivered in anticipation. Stepping off the Falcon and into the dark, damp cave that they were using as a temporary hangar and base, she watched as Luke headed for the entrance. Having just landed on the Barnush moon, the entire Reistanace strength had a lot to take in. The miraculous mountains, the gorgeous, lush valleys, the beautiful, red-orange sun. Rey admired how something could be so unique in a universe full of basically identical planets.

Following her off the ramp were Finn and Red. Fixing his hair, Red looked out to the sky. Immediately, he was overcome with the image of thousands of TIE fighters flooding the landscape. With a blink, they were gone, and he was once again staring at the snow-capped peril of mountains, Finn standing by his side. He followed Finn, who was following Rey, who was following Luke.

"Where are we going, Sir?" Rey asked Luke.

"We're going into the mountains," was the answer. Rey raised her eyebrows.

"Into the mountains?" She repeated. "Already? We literally just landed."

"I know, but your training is crucial," Luke rebutted. "As you're already so old, training can be postponed no longer."

Rey nodded as he talked. She turned around to see where Finn was, only to find him not far behind. She quickly turned to Luke again.

"Sir," she began. "Can Finn come too?"

Finn became surprised upon hearing what Rey had asked. She wanted him to come along? He'd love to, of course, but he didn't want to hinder. On the opposite side of Rey, Luke thought sceptically.

"I'm not so sure," he stated. "He could be too much of a distraction.

"He won't be," she quickly reputed. "I promise. I'm really good at cancelling out distractions."

Luke chuckled. Well, if she meant as she said, he saw no problem in having Finn come along with them. Besides, Luke had no real idea of where they were going to go, and Finn could come in handy.

"I suppose if he won't be any trouble," Luke conceded. Rey burst into a smile and, spinning around, grabbed Finn by the hand, pulling him along with them. They all stopped at the end of the cave, basking in the fresh, mountain air.

"Where to?" Finn asked. Rey nodded, looking at Luke.

"Wherever the Force takes us," he announced. Rey rolled her eyes with a laugh.

Luke turned up the plateau to an old, worn stone path, now overgrown with grass and little shrubs, created by the past inhabitants of the planet. Everywhere you looked, there was something that implied that life once existed on the planet. Across the valley, where red and blue squadron were temporarily stationed, old, run down structures were being used as hangars and pilot housing. Up the mountain path, there was what looked to be an old village, complete with huts and houses, shops and stores.

Even in the cave, old relics of the Empire era lay strewn about. Throughout its many corridors, there lay crates full of personal belongings, left behind in the hurry to get away from the wrath of the Empire. The occasional pile of bones was not uncommon, but they were few and far between. Even a few stormtrooper helmets were found by curious Resistance members.

Checking his sachel once last time, ("Two light sabers, good,") Luke, Rey, and Finn climbed the steep path that seemed to hug the side of the mountain. Where Luke and Rey were nimble and agile, maneuvering up the precipice, Finn was weary. He stumbled a few times before he was able to hold onto something. Noticing how clumsy he was, Rey handed him her staff. He looked up at her, wide eyed.

"Really?" He asked. She smiled.

"Yes," she approved. "For now. I want it back, though," said she, more serious.

Back in the cave, Red watched as they left and ventured into the open yonder. He was about to follow when someone called his name.

"2191," called General Organa. He turned to the Falcon. Following Chewbacca, Leia stepped off, carrying a large and heavy looking box. "We could sure use some help!"

With a sigh, he ambled back to the Falcon, where Leia stood waiting, greeting him with a warm smile on her face.

"How was your trip?" She asked. Red smiled back.

"Fine," he replied. "I finally got to talk to Shooter."

"'Shooter'?" Leia repeated. "Is that Finn?"

"Oh, that's just a nickname," he cleared up.

"Well, do you have a nickname?" She asked again. "Or atleast something else besides 'FN-2191' that you'd like to be called?"

"Red," said he. Leia smiled again.

"Red," she repeated, getting the name stuck in he head so she'd remember. "I like that. Like the colour?" She asked. Red nodded.

"Just like the colour," he confirmed.

Leia beckoned him up onto the Falcon again. She lead him to a large pile of boxes. Picking up a box, she plopped it into his arms. He began to turn when she took another and placed it on top of his arms. His knees buckled under the weight.

God, what's in these? He thought. He was quick to leave before she could give him another. He rushed off the Falcon, almost running into Chewbacca, and went to the ever-larger growing pile of boxes. He stretched out his muscles, watching as officers and crews unloaded the freights. Desks, chairs, tools, parts, small droids, everything the Resistance owned had been packed into the small cargo ships.

This will all be gone, Red thought maliciously. Nothing will be left. I'll be a hero. I'll be an officer.

But that was if he wasn't killed in the bombing run- and if Hux didn't get to him first.

* * *

They were three planets away from the Barnush moon. General Hux awaited the mission, nervously and anxiously tapping his fingers on the console. Kylo Ren found the act impossibly annoying, and he fought the urge not to act out.

After hours of listening to the rhythmic tapping, Kylo could handle it no longer. He thought he'd go insane if he listened for one more minute! Therefore, he left the cockpit to the small passenger area, fit for four people. Closing the door behind him, he sat down and removed his helmet. Beads of perspiration dripped from his brow. Was he nervous? Was he scared? Was he excited, hopeful?

All of the above.

His expectations were high for the outcome of this mission. Including the expectation that his mother remain intact. Their pilots would carry out the mission as ordered, this he was sure of. But who was to ensure that his precious mother would make it out in one piece?

Suddenly, he felt a twang of pain rippling from his left side. He looked at the black cloak in skepticism, wondering what that was. The pain lingered for a few moments before stabbing him again, this time with more nerve.

His bowcaster scar.

The wound had not quite completely healed, but that he was not about to tell the nurses. The last thing he wanted was Snoke and Hux breathing down his neck again. It would heal on its own, he was sure of it. Only it hadn't. And it hadn't bothered him at all until then, when it suddenly started to knock on his side with a fist of knives. It rattled him again, this time so painful that it made him wince. Then it struck him. He hadn't taken the self-prescribed pain medication that day, nor had he remembered to pack it.

"Damn it," mumbled Kylo. Normal painkillers would have to do for now. Lifting himself up from his seat, he clutched his side, hand brushing his new light saber. It was the same as his old one, just cleaner built. No more loose wires, exposed components. Be had been proud of his first one, but he was even more proud of his current one.

He shuffled over to the cabinets, rummaging around for a first aid kit. He threw aside pillows and light blankets, a box of rations, distilled water, various blasters and ammo packs, and even a few sets of hand cuffs- for prisoners. The clattered to the ground, making a ruckus. Hux couldn't hear him through the soundproof door, luckily.

 **Thanks for making it this far. If you're new to the story, you'll probably be wondering why this ends so abruptly. Yes, this chapter does end here, and I will tell you why. Back in June 2016, when this chapter was in production, I stopped writing altogether after a friend of mine died. Being as it is now April 2017 (when I wrote this update), I've obviously had time to carry forward (I'm trying to make this sound as not-sappy as I can). If you're reading this, though, you'll probably be glad to hear that this doesn't end here! I will have the next chapter uploaded within the week. In the meantime, I have added the "runout" for chapter 13 below, so you'll know how this chapter was supposed to go, because I don't plan on finishing it and will just continue with chapter 14. Enjoy!**

 **~MEH~**

 _Runout_

 _Chapter 13_

 _-Resistance is foiled on Barnush. Partially-built buildings, multiple ships, most Resistance members are killed._

 _-Kylo Ren and General Hux join First Order bombing run._

 _-Rey, Finn and Luke go out into the mountains to explore and train, and therefore are not hurt in the bombing._

 _-Minimal air combat ensues, but because of short notice, Resistance is not prepared. Poe is shot down but ejects into the mountains and gets stranded. BB-8 is lost but Poe follows a tracker to the wreckage. BB-8 is missing pieces and top dome but still functioning. Poe takes what he can salvage and looks for shelter._

 _-Leia, Chewbacca, R2, and most officers were in a cave, where part the base would have been built, and therefore survive. They fly away on the surviving ships to Tatooine for shelter._

 _-Kylo Ren and Hux trace Luke, Finn, and Rey into the mountains and corner them. Fighting ensues. Chapter ends._


	14. Chapter 14

Stepping down from the ramp of the Falcon, Leia squinted her eyes in the bright desert sun. It had been almost a decade since she had been on Tatooine. She walked under the Falcon to get some shelter from the scorching sun.

Off in the distance was a collection of odd buildings, most of them almost completely covered by the blowing sand. Many years ago, this squabble was a fully functioning Rebel Alliance base. The base was secluded enough for Jawas and their sandcrawlers to not find it easily, which meant that the Alliance (and their blasters- just in case) were safe. Now the buildings were hardly recognizable as anything more than piles of dust blown up against a few rocks.

Leia's heart sunk as she eyed the Resistance's few ships. Had they really lost that many in that attack? How many officers and crew were crammed onto the freighters and transport ships? Hopefully enough to be able to coordinate themselves and- hopefully- a counter attack. She took one last longing look into the sky just to make sure that no one was trailing behind, but gave up hope a few moments later. _This is it_ , she realized. _This is all we've come to_.

As the officers departed their ships, they too squinted in the bright light, some of them breaking out almost immediately into a sweat. Leia beckoned them under the cover of the Falcon where she commenced a small and very rushed meeting.

"Alright," she began with an exasperated sigh. "Welcome to Tatooine. This is as far as we could get from the Barnush Moon without attracting too much attention from other planetary organizations. Years ago, before the Resistance was formed, the Rebel Alliance had a base here, but after Luke left, and his program..." she trailed off. With a sigh and a shake of her head, she continued. "Well, luckily for us, this place is still here. Don't expect many pleasantries to remain, scavengers for sure have stripped it clean. At the very least, we'll be able to stay here for a while until we can organize ourselves."

The officers and crew huffed to each other, the heat already making them irritable, but they knew better than to question the orders of the General. They followed her up the ramp once again where a tired and hot Chewbacca leaned against the wall, his fur dripping with sweat already. He never really liked Tatooine, although some parts of it were more bearable than others. With a tired growl, he closed the ramp, glad to no longer be standing in the mind-searing heat. He growled to Leia. She chuckled.

"Yes, I know it's hot," she began. "But that can't stop us from doing our jobs. Luke, Rey and Finn are still on that moon, and we need to establish contact," she reenforced with a stern look. Chewbacca nodded. He returned to the cockpit without another peep.

"And keep the fans going!" Leia added from the service corridor, following the crew.

* * *

The valley was almost unrecognizable. The remnants of all of the Resistance ships that had been shot down during their attempts to escape the attack of the First Order lay scattered as far as the eye could see, leaving behind smouldering fires, dead bodies of valiant and loyal Resistance members, and shattered aircraft: some X-Wings, others troop carriers and cargo ships, most of which were carrying either materials or personnelle. Across the valley, where the Resistance was housing their fleet of X-Wings, there sat blazing fires, kept alight by leaked jet fuel and debris from the old tarnished buildings that had been used temporarily as hangers, and ships that had been knocked out before the fight even began. The fires created a blanket of smoke, so thick and black that it began to block out the sunlight, as though fighting at night, though it was mid-day. Ship and battle debris lay strewn about, and looking at the valley, it wasn't hard to tell that the Resistance was going to take a long time to recover after the battle.

Poe was a skilled pilot, but he had never seen an attack such as this one and in these conditions. Fighting on the Barnush Moon was difficult, but he managed as best as he could- he wasn't a certified flying ace for nothing. His old, beat-up X-Wing had never failed him, and Poe was damn sure it wasn't going to then.

Poe developed a tactic. He dived deep into the valley- almost to the river- until the dogfights going on above above him were nothing more than kites on a breeze, and then he would pull up, locking a TIE in his targeting system and shooting him down onto the steep and slippery sides of the cliff. Training, exploration, and battles helped him become more battle-hardened and able to develop techniques such as this one, yet this was the first time he had used it for real.

BB-8 beeped a series of concerned sounding beeps. Poe was going after another enemy ship.

"I know, buddy," Poe reassured him. "We'll take a few more out before we leave."

Going into another dive, Poe shot down towards the river again. Soon the battle above left his sights- the sign to pull up.

As he crested the bottom of the gorge, he looked around at the ruins of other X-Wings that had been shot down. He once flew so close to one that he thought he saw a lifeless pilot sitting in the cockpit, still strapped into his seat. Down the river too, chunks- spoilers, wings, cannons- of other aircraft crashed through the agitated water. A giant knot of parachutes meandered down the coursing river, drenched. The cords were tinged with the blood of a dead body being beaten against the rocks as it was knocked and thrown through the rapid water.

Pulling pack on the control column, Poe managed to count the ratio of X-Wings to TIE fighters above him. It didn't look good for the Resistance. He watched helplessly as another one of his fellow pilots caught fire and fell from the sky, the victorious TIE whizzing by Poe.

 _Avenge_ , Poe thought.

Poe set his sights for the TIE. Locking his cannons, he fired two shots, one of which hit the TIE, the other crashed into the cliff, leaving behind a scorching hole. The successful shot tore through a panel of the ship, sending it into a devastating spin before plunging into the cliff side.

"Woohoo! Yeah," Poe celebrated. BB-8, too, let out a series of cheerful blips. But their success was short lived, as it seemed as though another TIE pilot had the same idea as Poe. _Avenge_.

Jessika Pava was still there with him, along with Snap Wexley, Ello Asty and a few others- most had either been shot down or flown off with the rest of the Resistance fleet.

"How many more are there?" Poe radioed to the other pilots. Frustrated, Jessika radioed back.

"I don't know, but I know we're outnumbered," she replied. "How many more of us are there?"

Snap looked out of his canopy. "There are five of us and twelve of them," he replied anxiously.

"I really don't want to do this guys," Poe began. "But I don't want to lose more pilots."

"What are you saying?" Snap and Jessika said at the same time.

"You guys leave," Poe finished. "While you still can."

Jessika's heart sunk.

"No, Poe, we won't," said one of the other pilots.

"No," Poe retorted, not wanting to play any games. "That's an order. Pava, Wexley, Asty, and anyone else who's still there, that goes for all of you too. Leave, and find the rest of the Resistance."

" _We won't leave you_ ," Snap replied. Inside his cockpit, Poe chuckled.

"You won't be leaving me," Poe reassured them. "I'll be right behind you. Snap, in the meantime, I'm converting control over to you."

Snap nodded nervously. "Alright everybody," Snap began. "Let's head out. Form up on me," he commanded.

Poe watched as his friends positioned themselves and, in the blink of an eye, vanished into the sky at the speed of light. For the first time in a while, Poe was alone in the air- and it felt good.

Once again, BB-8 beeped a beep of warning. The TIE was gaining on them quickly.

"God, where'd _he_ come from?!"

Poe dove down the side of the cliff, close enough that he thought he could hear the whistle of his ship soaring through the sky echoing off of the mountain. He banked left and right, and climbed until his aircraft was ready to stall, but the TIE never ceased to be right on his tail. At least the fighter never fired any shots, Poe's aversions had prevented them from successfully locking him in their sights.

But as to be expected, this small victory was short lived as well. Poe's tactic of diving into the valley wouldn't work this time around- with someone trailing him, diving down there was a death wish. Instead, he ascended the skies, pulling back on the column until the nose of the X-Wing was level with the peaks of the mountains above. He pushed the throttle forward and accelerated into the sky, and ever so slowly, the opposing fighter drew farther and farther away. Soon, he reached a height that surpassed even the tallest mountains.

"Is 'e gone?" Poe asked BB-8. The droid beeped back in reply feverishly.

Steadily, the enemy aircraft below carefully measured and calculated the shots they were about to fire. Inside the enemy cockpit, the pilot finally locked onto Poe's X-Wing. Pulling hard on the trigger, the pilot shot at Poe. An indescribable jolt sent Poe's aircraft wobbling through the sky, indefinitely damaged and out of the fight. The ion engines sputtered and crackled and ultimately burst into flames.

"Damn it!" Poe yelled as one of the shots hit him straight from behind. Seeing Poe as a finished opponent, the TIE flew away. BB-8 beeped uncontrollably as Poe made last-minute attempts to land the X-Wing.

"I see a plateau over there," Poe replied through gritted teeth. "I'm gonna head for it!"

The plateau was covered in lots of moss and shrubs, a suitable place to land- or at least attempt to. The X-Wing wailed through the air, tail ablaze. Even with the spoilers extended to their max, Poe wasn't positive that he would make it over to the plateau.

"Oh, god!" Poe groaned loudly as he got nearer and nearer to the ground. He let out a series of curse words as he desperately fiddled with the controls and buttons and switches in the cockpit, but to no avail. BB-8 beeped incomprehensibly behind him, probably swearing in droid-speak too. Having not made any progress with the controls in the cockpit, Poe made the decision to press the eject button.

Flipping the safety panel off, Poe pounded the button, and was suddenly thrown up into the air with a gigantic force, throwing his helmet off in the process. BB-8 too, was ejected from the flaming ship.

Poe seemed to float mid-air for a moment, but soon realized that gravity works only one way- down. He was falling at such a rate that he thought he would be in as many pieces as that X-Wing when they both hit the ground, had it not been for the parachute strapped to his back. He felt around the bottom of the pack for the rip cord, which in his panic he could not find.

"I know it's there," he yelled to himself. "I _know_ it's there!"

Through the air Poe sailed downward, groping for the cord when- aha!- he finally found it. With a grunt only audible to him, he yanked the cord and with a satisfying _whoosh_ , the drag of the parachute slowed his fall.

Feeling safe now, Poe took the time to finally take an unobstructed view of the battleground. He was distracted by a deafening **BOOM** and an energetic shock wave that pushed him forward as his X-Wing crashed into the plateau. Then he remembered-

"Bee Bee Eight!" He shouted. Poe, not having realized that BB-8 was ejected along with him, immediately burst into tears with the thought of his trusty droid- his best friend- perishing in the fiery explosion.

The thoughts of anguish and despair were successful in distracting Poe enough from seeing that his parachute had deteriorated in the years that it had not been used, and was now almost useless in slowing his fall. He was startled to look up and see the sky through the holes in the orange fabric, and to look down shortly afterwords and see that he was only gaining speed and losing altitude.

Poe, now incapable of doing anything more to slow his fall, looked to the sky as it were full of enemy TIE fighters making their way home. The beautiful orange-red sun seemed to highlight the tears that fell ceaselessly down Poe's face as he fell to the cliff side. Having managed to make it over the plateau, Poe was glad to at least be able to fall onto some shrubs and not the hard rock.

"You're not getting out of this one, Dameron," he called out to himself. Knowing he was alone, he made no attempt to stop himself from sobbing, and found comfort in the loud cries that echoed off of the sides of the mountain and came back to him, as though there were other people, too, crying with him.

Poe looked to the sky and admired how the fires below gave the smoke an orange hue- like the steamy sunsets back on D'Qar. He figured he would rather watch the sky than the ground, thus Poe was able to take one last look at where he had made such cherished memories and spent the best portion of his life.

Vanishing out of sight of anyone left behind through a massive cloud of smoke, Poe was knocked unconscious as he slammed into the ground.

* * *

Inside the Millenium Falcon, Leia was desperately trying to calm down the crew of officers and pilots and high ranking technicians.

"How did they find us?!"

"What happened?!"

"This is a disaster!"

"We're doomed!"

"The First Order has to be stopped!"

Leia grew more and more annoyed with every accusation that was screeched into the crowd. With an almighty rage, she slammed her fist against the wall behind her.

"This is _not_ how we react to a situation like this!" Her bellow echoed throughout the corridors. The crowd hushed, sheepishly averting their gaze away from the general. In a more hushed tone, she continued.

"What we do not need, at the moment, are incompetent questions and accusations," she said. "Instead, we need to focus on finding out how this happened _together_. We cannot coordinate a plan, let alone find answers, if we keep going on like this! I need you all to calm down and be rational."

She paused and allowed the crowd to collect themselves.

"Alright," she continued, "Anyone else have anything to say?"

The new quiet did not last long. A loud chatter grew into a dull roar until shouts were being thrown from across the room.

"There has to be a spy!"

"How did anyone know? We didn't share our plans with anyone!"

"It's a spy, I'm telling you!"

Rage coursed through Leia's blood.

"Everybody, _quiet_!" Again, the crowd grew silent.

"Major Brance, what is this you say about a spy?" Leia asked.

"Nobody could have known about the plans to move to the Barnush moon," Major Brance answered. "Nobody told anyone anything. Or so we thought, and the only _rational_ explanation has to be that there is a spy in the Resistance!" A low whisper spread throughout the crowd, but unlike before, they didn't grow loud.

"Okay," Leia pondered. "Say there is a spy in the Resistance. Who do you think it is?"

Brance took a breath as though he was preparing himself for what he was about to say.

"Finn."

This time, his answer was not taken lightly. There were shouts coming from all corners of the room, some in support of the theory of Finn being a spy, others utterly outraged at the thought, Leia included.

"Not Finn." Leia repeated it over and over, as though the repetition would make it true. "It's _not_ Finn!"

"I agree, General," said Admiral Ackbar. "Finn has done too much for us to betray us." Cheers of support and cheers of denial were taken up.

"He's wicked clever, too," said one of the technicians. "He's given us a lot of advice on different techniques and manoeuvres. He brings a lot to the table, so to speak."

"But he's a storm trooper!" Yelled Major Brance.

"A _former_ storm trooper," someone rebutted.

"I don't even think he spends enough time alone to be able to transmit any information back to the First Order," added someone else. "He's always with Rey and Poe."

"That's just it," Major Brance said. "Just what do we know about Rey? Where has she been? Who does she know? And what about Poe?!"

Leia had heard enough.

"You stop right there, Brance," she exclaimed, pointing a stern finger at the man. "Poe has done far too much for the Resistance _and_ the Rebel Alliance to bring it all to a crumble. How dare you even think that! And for all his parents have done for you, all for you to turn on them?!"

Major Brance's face turned bright red. "I apologize, Ma'am." Leia nodded in reply.

"What about FN-2191? The other storm trooper?" Asked another person. The crown mumbled in agreement. Admiral Ackbar was the first to speak up.

"If I were to say who the spy is," he began in his warbly, "I would say it be him."

"But what evidence do we have if it is him?" Asked one of the colonels. "He's barely been here."

"Exactly," someone piped up. "Finn's built up too much of a good reputation, but this new guy, he's been here barely a week! And he always gave me bad vibes."

"He never came off as a 'good' guy," added another technician. "I've always been suspicious."

Leia pondered again. Their only lead at the moment was that there was a spy in the Resistance, and being as their only real option for the espionage and leakage of information to the First Order would most likely, most rationally, come from someone who defected from them originally, their only real suspects were Finn, FN-2191, and possibly Rey, who even though she didn't defect from the First Order, was still new enough to raise suspicions. Leia also knew that whatever the problem may have been, that they needed to stop it as soon as possible, and being that FN-2191 was their only available suspect, she deemed it appropriate to apprehend him.

Leia told the group what she thought, and after a vote upon what they should do, Leia's idea of apprehending FN-2191 as he was their only available suspect won unanimously.

"Well, then I suppose this meeting is adjourned."

* * *

Up on a ledge, Luke, Rey and Finn blended into the rocks and foliage with their drab clothing rather well, although laying on the ground wasn't that comfortable. High above them, they watched in horror as the First Order fleet abolished what was left of the Resistance. They couldn't describe what it was like to watch as their friends were shot down, littering the valley gorge with debris, fabric and flesh, and spitting flames. They did have some hope, they knew.

Poe.

That was until they horrifyingly watched as even Poe was shot down, too. The billowing smoke from all the wreckage started to block out the sunlight- which there wasn't much of to begin with. It started to look as though it was night. Through the smoke they were able to make out as the remaining Resistance fighters flew off.

"What are they doing?" Asked Rey.

"They're flying off to save what's left," Luke answered. "Look at them, there are only four left."

As they spoke, Luke and Rey didn't notice that as the Resistance flew away, different First Order ships flew in. And with them, the all-powerful who were leading the attack. Only Finn was able to tell what this ship was, it was different from all the rest, and his time in the First Order couldn't mistake him. It was the ship of Kylo Ren.

"Guys," Finn said, " _look_!" He pointed to the sky. Rey gasped as Kylo Ren's ship cruised through the sky.

"What do we do?" Rey looked at Finn, and then to Luke.

"We can't go anywhere," Finn explained. "They'll be able to track any movement, including us. They're here to exterminate the Resistance, including any traces, like us."

Luke, having not heard Finn's advice, was already pounding further into the plateau, panting as he ran. Finn and Rey, having no choice, raced after him.

"No, Luke!" Rey yelled. Finally, Luke began to slow down. Rey and Finn were able to catch up.

"They've tracked us," Finn whispered to himself nervously. "They're _definitely_ onto us."

* * *

"Land there," Kylo Ren commanded as his ships neared the mountains. Hux loomed over him, looking on proudly at the carnage that lay below in the valley.

"Any life forms?" Hux asked the pilot's technician.

"No, sir," the man replied. "Anything that was once living around here is either gone or dead, period."

Hux smiled evilly. "Good."

As they neared the valley, one of the monitors started to beep.

"What's that?" Asked Kylo. Hux stared down the technician suspiciously.

"I-it appears that some life forms remain, sir," he stuttered. He pulled up the monitor to show Kylo and Hux. Plain as day, there were the heat signatures of three human figures on top of the mountain. A rage boiled inside the general.

" _I thought you said that there were no life forms_ ," he blurted. "Where are they?!"

"A-about four kilometres away," he replied nervously.

Hux was furious. He couldn't have a few of the Resistance members survive the attack, he needed them _eradicated_. _Gone_. Little did he know that the Resistance was relocated to Tatooine. Although, with the New Republic destroyed, they would have no one to back them up, no one to support them and help them regain their hold on the galaxy. Nevertheless, with any trace of them left over, another rebellion may begin in their place. No Resistance members were to survive.

"Land at the edge of the plateau up there," Hux commanded. "We'll deal with them ourselves."

Their ship flew through the thick smoke. As they neared the edge, Kylo and Hux made their way to the ships platform. As they got nearer to the ground, they became more and more aware of the smoke. Kylo replaced his mask as the ship touched down. The platform was lowered, and the two of them walked off. Hux, overcome with a terrible coughing sensation (for he had spent so much time inside), pulled up the collar of his greatcoat to shield himself from the harsh smoke and also to try to act as a mask. Pulling a tracking device out of his pocket, he set it to follow the heat signatures of the three beings.

"Half a kilometre south-east," Hux said with a point of his finger. Together, they headed off to vanquish whoever were out there.

* * *

Finn couldn't stop himself from looking over his shoulder every two seconds. The plateau got worse and worse the farther in they traveled, and anyone could be hiding anywhere. For a while, the smoke was almost unbearable, but it settled after a while, although his eyes still watered.

Rey, on the other hand, wasn't bothered by the smoke or difficult terrain. She skipped and hopped over every pool of water, which were covered in a vile green scum. All the more reason to avoid them. She had felt uneasy since Finn said that they were being tracked. She, too, was constantly looking back over her shoulder. She had this "gut feeling", as Finn and Poe always called it, that something wasn't right.

As for Luke, he knew that something wasn't right. He could feel the Dark Side, and it was close. Always on his toes, Luke pulled out both lightsabers.

"Here," he said to Rey, handing her the blue lightsaber. "You might want this."

"Why?" Asked Rey. "There's no one here, right?"

"I can feel something," Luke claimed. "Can't you too?" Rey nodded apprehensively.

"We're turning around," he said again.

"What?" Pouted Finn. "No!"

"We need to see what or who is out there," answered Luke. "Let's get going."

Rey nodded. Holding her lightsaber in a ready position as she had taught herself, they all turned around and proceeded back to the edge of the plateau. Finn looked at them wearily.

"What?" Rey asked.

"I don't have a weapon," he replied.

"Oh," she said. She put her hand to her side and unholstered her blaster. She held it out to Finn.

"Here," she said with a smirk. "Watch the safety." Finn smiled in thanks before lifting the gun up to a fighting position. On guard, they slowly headed back towards whatever danger there may be.

* * *

As they walked, the terrain worsened. With every step he took, Kylo began to realize just how weak those painkillers had made him.

I _shouldn't have taken that many_ , he said to himself.

At one point, he nearly stumbled into one of those slime-filled, scummy puddles, but Hux managed to catch him by the elbow, hauled him upright, saying viciously, "Watch where you're going, _Ren_."

Kylo scowled underneath his mask. " _Shut up_ ," he snapped, stopping abruptly. Hux turned to him.

"Excuse you?!," he snapped back.

"No," Kylo replied. "Be _quiet_!" He stuck his hand in front of Hux.

Kylo could feel something. The Force.

The Light Side?

The trace was strong and close. Why was it so strong? He had felt this certain signature before. It was weaker, though.

His old master.

Luke Skywalker.

Emphasis on " _old_ ".

But there was something else, another trace, not all entirely new. A stronger one. A _fresher_ one.

The girl.

"The heat signatures are getting closer," Hux announced quietly. Inside his helmet, Kylo's eyes widened in realization.

They were there. That's why the feeling was so strong.

They were close, too.

* * *

They crept closer to the edge of the plateau. Rey could feel something. She was more familiar with it, it was still fresh inside her. She knew what it meant. Luke hadn't felt this signature in a long time, but without a doubt, he knew who it was. Both of them did.

Kylo Ren was close.

"Ben," Luke said under his breath. The mention of his name sent shivers down Finn as Rey's backs, as the last time they had heard that name was on Starkiller Base, coming from the mouth of Han Solo.

They all stopped. They listened in the dark for something, _anything_.

"The heat signatures have stopped moving," someone said. Finn froze. He knew that voice.

"General Hux," he whispered.

"Where are they?" Luke asked.

"They're close, but we can't see through the smoke," Rey answered.

"We're trapped," Finn admitted.

"Three against two," Rey added.

"Let's take them," said Finn.

"No!" Luke snapped quietly, but it was too late.

" _Aha_ ," boasted a robotic voice. The unmistakeable sound of a lightsaber turning on ripped through the silence. A few feet ahead of them, the irregular red glow of the tri-bladed lightsaber of Kylo Ren shone through the smoke.

 _No going back now_ , Luke thought. Holding up his lightsaber, he turned on the green blade, casting a low glow across his face. Rey, too, lifted her lightsaber and turned it on, the hum of her's and Luke's sounding almost harmonic. Finn clicked off the safety of his blaster.

Together, the three of them charged forward, the light that was tossed across their faces highlighting their determined, angry, and anticipated expressions.

 **Woah! A long chapter. I'm not entirely confident with the ending, but regardless, I hope you enjoy! This is my first chapter in almost ten months, so I hope it doesn't disappoint.**

 **~MEH~**


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